Gubra today announces updates to its R&D pipeline of internal and partnered projects. Most notably is the addition of a new CNS (orexin) peptide drug discovery project, now ready for partnering. The aim of the project is to develop an efficacious and safe peptide-based treatment for narcolepsy type 1.
Henrik Blou, CEO at Gubra, is satisfied with the latest pipeline developments:
“We are pleased to add this new CNS indication to our portfolio of drug discovery projects. The exciting results suggest that we can use streaMLine to develop blood-brain-barrier penetrating peptides which has tremendous potential in multiple CNS-related disorders.”
Gubra has developed a broad series of orexin peptides with very promising effects in animal models of narcolepsy which spurred the decision to advance the project into their R&D pipeline. The orexin peptide drug discovery project, that gains access to brain orexin receptors after a subcutaneous injection, has grown out of Gubra’s own streaMLine platform for rapid peptide drug discovery.
Orexin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep-wake cycles. Certain sleeping disorders, such as narcolepsy type 1 (narcolepsy with cataplexy), are debilitating diseases with severe consequences for the quality of life of patients and their relatives. They are believed to be caused by the loss of a group of neurons deep in the brain producing orexin peptides. Narcolepsy type 1 is a rare chronic neurological disorder with a prevalence of 25-50 per 100,000.
