As part of a strategic R&D collaboration with pioneering biopharma start-up Engitix, the Exscalate platform is being leveraged to identify new treatments for diseases that represent a huge unmet clinical need, including fibrosis and liver-associated solid tumors

Both cancer and fibrosis are leading causes of death around the world. As cancer progresses it causes solid tumors, which are largely untreatable. Fibrosis similarly has no approved drugs to treat it. A pathological feature of many diseases occurring as a result of inflammation or damage, fibrosis eventually leads to organ failure. In the case of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a persistent and progressive fibrotic disease of the liver, the only effective therapy to date is a liver transplant.

Engitix, a spin out of University College London, was founded in 2016 to address this unmet clinical need. This biopharmaceutical start-up aims to pioneer new, advanced therapeutics to help significantly improve the lives of fibrosis and solid tumor patients and their families. 

Through its cutting-edge research at the Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, Division of Medicine, University College London (UCL), Engitix’ founders discovered that a key limitation in developing effective treatments in fibrosis and various solid cancers has been the failure to include human extracellular matrix (ECM) in experimental models. It’s a reason why the majority of compounds fail in late stage clinical trials. 

Essentially, the ECM is the bioactive scaffold that provides structural and biochemical support to cells within human tissues and organs. It also regulates crucial biochemical and biomechanical processes. However, being a dynamic structure the ECM is constantly being remodeled. Genetic mutations can result from this remodeling, which affects the phenotype of the associated cells and as such leads to fibrosis and cancer. Engitix discovered that the proteins that make up and regulate the remodeling of the ECM represent promising therapeutic targets.

As a result of this discovery, Engitix developed a human ECM-based platform for drug target identification and validation. The hope is that through the use of this platform, in which healthy and diseased cells can be tested with potential therapeutic agents within their natural physiological and pathological microenvironment, will help reduce late-stage clinical failures and accelerate drug discovery.

In early 2022, Engitix announced a multi-year, multi-programme strategic collaboration with Exscalate, which includes equity investment. Engitix will not only have direct access to Exscalate’s facilities, resources and expertise but it will also be able to leverage the capabilities of the Exscalate ultra-high performance virtual screening platform. Combining the power of Exscalate with Engitix’s deep understanding of the biology of the fibrosis and solid tumors microenvironment and the unique strength of its ECM platform, will enable Engitix to further accelerate the clinical translation of its targets and drug discovery process.

Exscalate’s partnership with pioneering biopharma start-up Engitix has already resulted in a co-developed pipeline in fibrosis and cancer. Together the companies are accelerating the drug discovery process to help improve lives through pioneering new precision medicines for previously unmet needs. 

Link: https://engitix.com