Jecure Therapeutics, based in San Diego, stated operations in mid-2016 with a focus on NASH and liver fibrosis.
Jecure Therapeutics, based in San Diego, stated operations in mid-2016 with a focus on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis.
Jeff Stafford, the company’s chief executive officer, told BioSpace, “We’re translating the fundamental academic biology and some of the insights into this novel mechanism of action that came out of our founder’s laboratory, Ariel Feldstein at the University of California San Diego. I believe it’s important to eliminate as much uncertainty from early drug development as possible and that’s by understanding the biology as much as possible. Ariel Feldstein is someone who’s been a leader in this area, NASH and liver fibrosis, for well over a decade. He’s laid down some of the seminal contributions in the field and we’re glad to be translating that into a product.”
Both Stafford and the company’s chief scientific officer, Jim Veal, worked at Quanticel Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Celgene in 2015.
“The other key theme of the Jecure story is the team we’re working with. Jim and I came out of Quanticel, which had a collaboration with Celgene. One of the things we’ve been doing is reassembling a team from folks we’ve worked with in the past, veteran drug discovery scientists we’ve worked with, not just at Quanticel, but at GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda before that,” Stafford says.
Company Leadership
Jeffrey Stafford – President and Chief Executive Officer. Stafford was the founding chief scientific officer of Quanticel Pharmaceuticals. He also held senior scientific and management positions at Takeda San Diego, Syrrx and GlaxoSmithKline.
James Veal – Chief Scientific Officer. Before joining Jecure, Veal was a Distinguished Research Fellow at Quanticel. Prior to Quanticel, he was vice president of Research at Pamlico Pharmaceuticals. He also worked for Serenex and Glaxo Research Institute.
Ariel Feldstein – Academic Founder. Feldstein is a professor of Pediatrics and chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the University of California San Diego.
Company Financing
The company officially launched with a $20 million Series A round from Versant Ventures in February 2017. Versant is the sole investor. Stafford told BioSpace, “They understand completely the decision-making and early-stage drug discovery as well as any venture capital firm out there, and the commitment that’s required. We’re quite thrilled to be backed by Versant again in this particular company.”
Pipeline
Jecure has a number of ongoing drug discovery programs. The lead program is moving toward an investigational new drug (IND) filing in late 2018. Stafford says, “We have a broader pipeline addressing two novel mechanisms for NASH liver fibrosis beyond our lead program.”
While NASH has a number of different disease components, Stafford says, such as fibrosis and inflammation, Feldstein’s work “has been studying the role of the inflammasome, which is where in the disease we’re focused. More broadly, there appears to be pharmacology beyond liver fibrosis driven by inflammasone action.”
Market Competition
NASH is sometimes called the “silent” liver disease. It resembles alcoholic liver disease, but appears in people who drink little or no alcohol. However, it can be severe and lead to cirrhosis. It is considered an area of unmet medical need, and aside from weight loss, increased physical activity, and avoiding alcohol, there are no treatments.
As a result, several companies are interested in it, including Allergan, which acquired a couple early-stage NASH companies in late-2016, Akarna Therapeutics and Tobira. Gilead Sciences is a leader in liver diseases, although Intercept Pharmaceuticals is very competitive in this area as well. Novartis is also a player in the NASH market.
Dollars and Deals
Stafford says, “We’re keeping our options open. We have our minds on delivering out these compounds into the clinic in the 2019, early 2019 timeframe and that’s where we’re focused. We’re open to speaking to companies who have strategic interests that are aligned with ours.”
What to Look For
Hoping to be in the clinic in 2019, so in three to five years, Stafford projects, “we would hope to have a drug that’s in mid-stage clinical trials by then with our lead program. We would like to see a couple of other programs that are earlier stage, perhaps entering the clinic.”
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