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SciBX covers Encycle’s partnership with IRICoR, MaRS Innovation and Merck

Encycle Therapeutics“The first disclosed grant under Merck & Co. Inc.’s Canadian translational initiative will bolster the ability of macrocycle-based Encycle Therapeutics Inc. to conduct lead optimization of its integrin [a4b7,] inhibitors for inflammatory bowel disease,” writes Michael J. Haas in SciBX’s feature on the partnership, “Merck Encycles through Canada.” The article appears in the publication’s December 4, 2014 issue.

Read the Encycle press release that prompted this article.

The article explores the current grant partnership between Merck, Encycle Therapeutics, MaRS Innovation, the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer–Commercialization of Research (IRICoR), and the Université de Montréal’s Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), and takes an inside look at the company’s progress to date.

Here’s an excerpt:

Encycle is a spinout from the University of Toronto founded in 2012 to solve the primary challenges of macrocycle drugs–poor cell penetration and low oral availability.

According to Parimal Nathwani, the company was selected by MaRS Innovation and IRICoR (Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer–Commercialization of Research), two of the three agencies originally tasked with disbursement and management of the Merck fund, because it was a good match with IRIC’s competencies. The third agency, The Centre for Drug Research and Development, is not involved in this deal. IRICoR is the commercialization arm of IRIC.

“Encycle has a good chemistry platform and nice early discovery work on its integrin [a4b7,] inhibitor program, which is now at the point where it needs to move through lead optimization,” said Nathwani. “IRIC scientists have strong expertise in medicinal chemistry and have worked with industry on optimization, pharmacokinetics, toxicity and other preclinical studies, so they can provide Encycle with pharma-grade optimization.”

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Montreal’s La Presse covers life science research funding project among MI, CQDM, OCE and OBI

This week, MaRS Innovation (MI) announced a new partnership agreement with The Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM), the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) to launch the Québec/Ontario CQDM Funding Program.

The funding program will support collaborative life science research projects between the two provinces that seek to develop new tools for biopharmaceutical research.

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CQDM Partners with MaRS Innovation, Ontario Brain Institute and Ontario Centres of Excellence to Launch Life Sciences Funding Program Within Ontario-Québec Corridor

BOSTON, MA, June 18, 2012 — Together with key partners from Ontario, The Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) is creating a new initiative to fund collaborative life sciences research projects between the two provinces.

A French version of this release is available via CQDM’s website.

This initiative is the first notable and concrete realization of the Ontario-Québec Life Sciences Corridor, announced at the 2011 BIO International Convention. It builds upon two previous pilot projects and existing strengths within the two provinces to increase innovation, productivity, investment and job creation.

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Encycle Therapeutics Launches Ground-Breaking Chemistry Platform

Platform for cyclizing peptides promises to increase efficiency of early-stage drug discovery

BOSTON, June 18, 2012 – Encycle Therapeutics, a MaRS Innovation spin-off company, has created a ground-breaking chemistry platform for cyclizing peptides that promises to increase the efficiency of the early-stage drug discovery process.

Peptides have long been sought after as therapeutics due to their high specificity — they can hit specific cellular targets, especially complex protein-protein interaction targets implicated in cancer, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders.

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