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January 19, 2022

Artizan Biosciences picks lead inflammatory bowel disease candidate

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Dr. Bridget Martell
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

Artizan Biosciences announced this week that it has selected its lead product candidate,  ARZC-001, for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

The New Haven-based biotechnology company described the candidate as a novel, oral, gut-restricted potent small-molecule inhibitor. It is designed to neutralize a specific secreted factor of microbial-driven dysregulation and inflammation in the intestine.

Dr. Bridget Martell, the company’s president and CEO, said that while progress has been made in treating inflammatory bowel disease, about 30% of patients don’t respond to initial biologics therapy. 

Among patients who do respond, up to 10% stop responding to treatment each year, she added.

Inflammatory bowel disease affects millions globally and includes multiple diseases that cause chronic intestinal inflammation, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

“Given the significant unmet medical need for sustained clinical remission in these patients on lifelong therapy, we are excited to advance ARZC-001 into the clinic to help patients with these devastating diseases,” Martell said, in a press release.

The company anticipates filing an investigational new drug application by the end of 2022, she added. 

Noah W. Palm, a scientific co-founder of the company and Yale University associate professor of immunobiology, called the announcement a “significant milestone.”

According to Palm, it represents the company’s ability to “leverage the microbiome as a drug discovery tool.”

“I look forward to seeing the progress of ARZC-001 in the clinic and demonstrating the potential of Artizan’s unique technology to develop therapeutics in IBD and other disease areas,” Palm said. 

ARZC-001 is the first in a pipeline of product candidates in Artizan’s portfolio, and the company anticipates additional candidates will enter the clinic shortly. According to the company, its drug discovery platform is useful in several therapeutic areas, such as central nervous system conditions, certain cancers, metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases. 

In November, Artizan and Biohaven Therapeutics Ltd. of New Haven announced they would be collaborating in an effort to find treatments for Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological movement disorder.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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