Life Science Today 006 – Biogen, Denali, US Drugs, and Parasitic Sexual Partners
Originally Published as The Niche Podcast
Introduction
Welcome to The Niche Podcast – Your weekly 5-minute rundown of the biotech, clinical research, and applied science industries. I’m your host, Dr. Noah Goodson. This week, Biogen and Denali partner for Parkinson’s, the US pushes American-based drug manufacturing, and the secret to Parasitic Sexual Partners uncovered.
Biogen and Denali Partner for Parkinson's
Biogen hit top news again this week with an announcement that they will be forming a Parkinson’s partnership with Denali. The deal gives Biogen exclusive rights to Denali’s Parkinson’s program. While Denali had multiple targets in the preclinical and early clinical pipeline, the partnership has chosen to move forward with DNL151 and push it to late-phase clinical trial in early 2021.
Mutations in the LRRK2 gene can lead to Parkinson’s, though it is not the only cause of the disease. This gene is involved in a variety of functions but plays a critical role in the regulation of lysosome formation. Dysregulation is believed to lead to the specific pattern of neurodegeneration that causes Parkinson’s. Denali’s small molecule program works by delivering an LRRK2 inhibitor to re-regulate the lysosomal system and in theory, slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Based on the size of the deal from Biogen, they feel pretty confident in the results from the DNL151 clinical trial, which showed good health and safety, effective decrease of LRRK2 activity, and few adverse events. A Parkinson’s small molecule deal might seem a bit shaky at a price tag of $560 million, but Biogen has also secured rights to license Denali’s transport vehicle programs. Biogen has maintained their focus on neurological diseases and one of the main challenges is delivering drugs across the blood brain barrier. Denali has multiple programs including the use of antibodies and enzymes bound to drugs to encourage transport into the brain. Through this deal, Biogen has secured direct access to a potentially lucrative small molecule pipeline and locked down first rights on an alternative drug-delivery platform. Their overall goal seems to be creating an overlapping multi-pronged strategy to treat the biggest neurological diseases. How this bet will turn out for Biogen is unclear, but Denali sustained a 33% jump in stock to close at $31.61 on Friday.
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US Based Drug Manufacturing
Thursday, the Whitehouse released a new executive order aimed at securing a supply line of essential medicines within the boarders of the United States. The statement reads more like political rhetoric than meaningful policy. The goal appears to be moving manufacturing of key medical supplies from overseas sources to American soil. However, it seems odds with Operation Warp Speed since the creation of essential drug pipelines is incredibly costly and time consuming. On the surface this order may be reasonable – yes make drugs in the USA where there is reliable quality control and it creates US jobs. But this process dramatically increases the cost of drug manufacturing and slows down international investment and trust in the US pharmaceuticals industry. The probable result is the opposite of what is intended of hobbling US drug development, increasing the cost to the American people, and slowing down the industry. That all assumes this will function as a long-term policy and not rhetoric – something that is yet to be seen.
Parasitic Sexual Partners
A clingy partner that acts like a parasite on your life. If you’ve experienced this, then you can relate to Ceratioidei. These deep-sea Anglerfish are known for their glowing lures and massive teeth. But living in the inky depths below 300m can make finding a partner and sticking to them challenging. Anglerfish have a unique solution. Males are much smaller than their female counterparts. To mate, they attach to the females, fuse their skin, and integrate their entire circulatory system, no longer feeding but becoming a permanent parasite.
One of the major questions was how this fusion was possible since the immune system should reject a “non-self” object, like a male stuck to you. A study released in Science shows that Anglerfish have made a number of major evolutionary changes to their adaptive immune system to repress it and allow for this form of parasitic mating. These fish still need functioning immune systems and it is likely that their innate immune abilities have been upregulated in some way to maintain their health in the depths filled with bacteria, parasites, and viruses.
Understanding immunity is critical to treating numerous diseases from autoimmune disorders to many forms of cancer. The study of marine creatures has led to major developments in the past, including a couple of billion-dollar cancer therapies like Brentuximab. It could be that understanding how these Anglerfish depress their adaptive immunity but maintain healthy systems will provide breakthrough insights in the future. Most humans have little interest in a parasitic partner but boosting innate immune function could be lifesaving for millions.
Closing Credits
Thanks for joining me on The Niche Podcast; your weekly 5-minute summary of top news in the biotech, clinical trials, and applied science industries. You can find us on your favorite podcast app. Like, comment, subscribe, and most of all share with your friends in the industry. If you like what you hear, please rate and review, it really helps us. Once again, I’m Dr. Noah Goodson, I’ll see you next week.
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Story References
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/07/29/science.aaz9445
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4832911/
Music by Luke Goodson