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This independent study by students from Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques de Lille delves into CombinatoRx, focusing on its history, high throughput screening, risks, founders, management team, scientific advisors, Board of Directors, finance, and partnerships. The study explores how screening combinations of FDA-approved drugs with expired patents can lead to novel therapeutic effects and streamline drug development processes. The organization's management team, scientific and technical backgrounds, and financial successes are highlighted to provide a comprehensive overview of CombinatoRx's innovative approach to drug discovery.
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February, the 9th 2007 COMBINATORX SPEED DATING FOR MOLECULES BATIQUE Laura, MARICOURT Aurélie & PALADINI Bénédicte
Safe Harbor • This is an independent study performed by students from the Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques de Lille • The opinions expressed are our own and not necessarily those of Combinatorx
SUMMARY • Idea • Organization chart • Finance • Research & development: cHTS • Patent • Pipeline • Communication to stockholders • conclusion
History • summer 1999: group of young researchers: • Brent Stockwell • Mike Foley • Alexy Borisy • Curtis Keith « Curious Liquid café » • disease: multifactorial process • No magic bullet • Multiple pathways « networked systems »
Traditional combinations : « art antérieur » • i.e. HIV & cancer treatment Screening for combinations: active small molecules Look for syncretic drug & synergistic drug through different pathways To create a novel, strong & unexpected therapeutic effect
« Logistical nightmare »: • - library of 100 000 compounds • 100 billion paired combinations • screening them: $10 billion/50 000 years!!! Focus exclusively on FDA-approved drugs with expired patents 2 000 compounds 2 million paired combinations • How? • HIGH THROUGHPUT SCREENING (cHTS™)
Interests: Pre-approved Compounds • Bypassing time-consuming synthesis stage • Available data: • - pharmacology/toxicology • - dosing • - formulation • - safety and kinetic studies Lessen development time, cost and risks Higher degree of success
Risks • Why low doses of therapeutics that have nothing to do with a disease have an effect on the disease process? • metabolism issue? • Why doctors wouldn’t prescribe 2 drugs independently, instead of the combined cocktail? • Adjust formulation • Regulatory risks: • negative synergistic effects?
Foundersa group of young researchers • Alexis BORISY(Harvard University, independant industry consultant) • MikeFOLEY(Harvard University, researching the interface of chemistry and biology) • Brent STOCKWELL(Harvard University, assistant professor at Columbia University) • Curtis KEITH(Harvard University, McGill University)
Management Team Alexis BORISY President Robert FORRESTER Chief Financial Officer Jan LESSEM Chief Medical Officer Lynn BAIRD Quality & Clinical operations Daniel GRAU Commercial Operations Jason COLE General Counsel Curtis KEITH Senior vice president, Research
Scientific Advisors • Mike FOLEY • Brent STOCKWELL • Gary BORISY (professor of cell and molecular biology at Northwertern University Medical School) • Peter ELLIOTT( B.S. at London University, Cambridge University ) • Todd GOLUD(expert in medecine, cancer biology and pharmacogenomics , Harvard, University of Chicago) • Joanna HOROBIN ( over 20 years of industry experience) • Josh LEDERBERG (Nobel Laureate, 82)
Scientific/Technical Backgrounds • CombinatoRx Research group: • - 45 employees in Research: • approximately one third hold advanced degrees • - Matrix organizational structure • - Discovery Biology, In vivo Pharmacology, Formulations… • Valuable Expertise: • - Cell based assay development • - High Throughput screening • - Commercial insight
Board of Directors Alexis BORISY President & CEO Richard ALDRICH Managing Director Richard POPS CEO Alkernes Barbara DEPTULA Executive VP, Shire Pharmaceuticals Patrick FORTUNE Boston Millenia Partners Franck HAYDU Director, Chaiman of the Audit Committee Michael KAUFFMANN President and CEO EPIX Pharmaceuticals
Raising Funds • 1990s: Beginning of High Throughput screening • Founded in March 2000 • Business Angel Investor: Jacob Goldfield: $ 2,5million • Raised a total of $ 180 million, since 2000: • $ 90 million: - Boston Millenia Partners • - Canaan Ventures Partners • - Flagship Ventures • $ 44,3 million: IPO (november 2005) • $ 48 million: private placement (march 2006)
New Partnerships • Leverage the business with partners : • gains 50-90% rights to next product candidates • retains 100% rigthts to existing clinical programs CombinatorX_investors_presentation_2006.pdf
2004 2005 September December April July Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation (SMA) potential milestones payment Novartis: screening work: $500 000 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) $4,4million grant block the adverse effects of anthrax toxin Henkan Pharmaceutical: (taiwan) $500 000 upfront potential $23million milestones payments CRX-026 (exclusive & territorial license) Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC²) for Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)
IPO Private placement 2006 November March August October January April June CHDI (Neurodegenerative Disease Foundation) Huntington’s disease AdipoGenix:obesity Angiotech Pharmaceutical: $27million upfront $15million equity investment & potential milestones payments medical devices and interventional medicines Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics (CFFT):potential $ 13,8 million in Research Cystic fibrosis (CF) Fovea Pharmaceutical: $20 million in potential milestones payments Ophtalmic disease Bio*One Capital: $2,5 million grant $17,5 million milestones payments Infectious disease
Identity card of compagny • Name : combinatoRx, Incorporated • Symbol : CRXX • CEO : Alexis Borisy • Description : a biopharmaceutical compagny focused on developing new medecines built from synergistic combinations of approved drugs • Information industry : drugs - biotechnology Les échos
L’action Entrée en bourse le 9 novembre 2005 Capitalisation boursière = 250 millions $ Cash position = 150 millions $ Yahoo finance
Comparaison avec l’indice des biotech Private placement Adipogenix Angiotech Fovéa CFFT IPO : 9/11/05 Yahoo finance
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT COMBINATORX DISCOVERY PROCESS
Cell-based phenotypic assay • Multi-target drug discovery • Action on multiple pathways • The only solution: screening of the whole cell • Much more complex than biochemical screening • « disease-modifying targets » • Cells preserve the essential elements of the disease network
Empiric multi-target discovery: Phenotypic cellular models i.e. Screening for inflammatory responses: • Stimulation of PBMC with LPS • production of TNF by several cell types • Monitoring production of TNF • screening in 384-well format: combinations of compounds that inhibit inflammatory response • 3) Potential candidates therapeutics • treatment: psoriasis, RA, asthma… Multicomponent therapeutics for networked systems; Curtis T. Keith, Alexis A. Borisy and Brent Stockwell; Nature reviews, drug discovery, january 2005
High Throughput Screening: cHTS • Screening pairwise combinations Demand informatic tools (automated robotic screening) & Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) • Partition: • active compounds: tested through dose-ratio interaction surfaces • inactive compounds: tested in synergistic pairs at a single high concentration
Each point = combination activity • Gathering of compounds by pharmacological target Perfect symetry? A549, HCT 116, MRC 9 Tumoral cell lines CombinatorX_investors_presentation_2006.pdf
High density signal: pathways interaction Potential synergy (red) (blue: no synergy) Potential « hit »? CombinatorX_investors_presentation_2006.pdf
Dose-response Matrix • 6 concentrations (including 0) for each compound • 36 different wells of a microtiter plate • Aim: identification of « hits » Multiple combinations of # ratio of doses Interaction surface measured for each pair of compounds 3D inhibition surface
Comparison/reference model interaction surface • Standard mathematic model of additivity (Loewe, Bliss…) • to identify a synergy, an antagonism or a simple additivity Model excess surface score • Overall shape of the interaction surface: information: • how the compounds act on pathways • how the targets for the compounds are related to each other (network connectivity)
Analyzing a collection of scores • synergy scores • « synergy profile » of each agent • to emphasize relationships between pathways • grid: axes sorted by molecular mechanism for each agent, grouped by pathway Multi-target therapeutics: when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts; Grant R. Zimmermann, Joseph Léhar and Curtis T. Keith; elsevier, drug discovery today, january 2007
Prioritizing & Optimizing Combinations • Evaluation: • chemical compatibility • compatibility: ADMET • Determination: • Combination Structure-Activity Relationship (CSAR): • Combination Mechanism-Activity relationship (CMAR):
Examples • Inhibition of C.albicans proliferation • 384-well plates • « cellular viability assay »: Alamar blue fluorescence • selection: 30 compounds symetry • 2 antifungal agents • No antifungal agent • 1 antifungal agent Systematic discovery of multicomponent therapeutics; Alexis A. Borisy, Joseph Léhar, E. Royden Price, Grant R. Zimmermann, Michael A. Foley, Brent R. Stockwell, and Curtis T. Keith; PNAS; june 2003
i.e: pentamidine-phenazopyridine : Dose-response matrix pentamidine = 0,03µM phenazopyridine = 4,2µM Systematic discovery of multicomponent therapeutics; Alexis A. Borisy, Joseph Léhar, E. Royden Price, Grant R. Zimmermann, Michael A. Foley, Brent R. Stockwell, and Curtis T. Keith; PNAS; june 2003
Anthrax Antitoxin Program • NIAID: $4,4million grant • Biodefense • Therapeutic goals: • Block toxic effects of exposure to anthrax (Bacillus anthracis and its toxin) • status: preclinical CombinatorX_investors_presentation_2006.pdf
PATENT USPTO
PATENT IDEA DEVELOPPEMENT ET MISE AU POINT D’UN PROCEDE cHTS Besoin de lever des fonds Communications Méthode dévoilée Secret Ex: formule du coca cola
Protection de la Méthode • Revendication: • Screening de 2 molécules • Synergique • Robotisation • Associations • Conséquences: • Nouvelle • Innovante • Application industrielle • Publication de demande de brevet en 2002 BREVET
Revendications: Description du mécanisme d’action Description des cibles Résultats: Combinaisons inattendues Applicables industriellement Non prévisible pour l’homme de l’art Brevets délivrés: 6 brevets délivrés Ex: Pentamidine + Chlorpromazine ex: Amoxapine+Prednisolone Principes et mécanismes des maladies inflammatoires Inhibition imp de TNF Pas activité aux concentrations Utilisation pour inh/réduire inflammation Composition: Amoxapine de 1-600mg Prednisolone de 0.05 à 200 mg Formulation: IV,IM,VO,VV,VR,Vinh DRUG’S PATENTS
PIPELINE Introduction CRx-026: rescue CRx-102: success CRx-140: failure
Introduction • Disease areas: • Immuno-inflammatory • Oncology • Metabolic disease • Neurodegenerative disease • Infectious disease • Portfolio: • 8 product candidates (phase 2 clinical trials) • multiple preclinical candidates in metabolic disease
Product Strategy • Target product profile: • single pill/ synergistic/ New medical benefit/ Novel & non obvious patterns of activity/ customized, synergy-based formulation: Non substituable • CombinatoRx Advantage: Discovery to Phase 2: Focusing on rapidly building a product pipeline and drug development risk