Ecrins Therapeutics is a privately held biotech company specialized in the discovery and development of innovative oncology drugs. Our main drug candidate ET-D5 is being developped for human and veterinary oncology applications and is currently in the regulatory preclinical phase. Our other R&D programs are in the discovery phase.
Strategy
Ecrins Therapeutics' business strategy involves building a strong intellectual property portfolio with proprietary or licensed-in anti-cancer compounds.
Our discovery of novel molecules with anti-tumor properties was made possible through an innovative approach in phenotypic screening and subsequent confirmation of anti-cancer activity in cancer xenograft models. Ecrins Therapeutics uses propriety technologies to build a large and diversified product portfolio that it intends to develop and commercialize through licensing agreements with pharmaceutical companies, through joint development and through internal product development programs.
ET-D5 is a small molecule drug candidate that we discovered and are developing for several oncology indications. ET-D5 is a new chemical entity (NCE) that can be taken orally as a tablet.
Our lead candidate ET-D5 is an anti-mitotic and anti-vascular compound. The latter exist in two different classes: (i) anti-angiogenic; (ii) vascular-disrupting agents (VDA). The difference between them is that while the anti-angiogenic drugs prevent neo-vessels formation in the growing tumor, the VDA, for example ET-D5, physically disrupt already established tumor vessels. The destruction of blood vessels by ET-D5 effectively shuts down the supply of O2 and nutrients to cancer cells and provokes a massive intratumoral necrosis. Another mechanism by which ET-D5 targets cancer cells, is by arresting them in division (mitotic arrest), followed by cell death. Most importantly, ET-D5 presents interesting pharmacological properties, good toxicology profile and is active when administered per os.
In addition to our most advanced drug candidate currently in development ET-D5, we have used our proprietary drugs discovery platform to identify six other compounds active against cancer cells. These compounds with diverse chemotypes are currently investigated to better characterize their physicochemical and biological properties. We are searching for funds to launch full scale early-stage drug development programs using these drug candidates.
Cancer is a disease characterized by an abnormal and often uncontrollable proliferation of the body’s cells. Deaths from cancer represent around one eighth of all deaths (World Cancer Report, 2008).
Anti-cancer drugs represent the largest pharmaceuticals market with a compound annual growth rate of 12-15% from 2008, reaching global sales of over US $75-80 billion by 2012 (Business Insights). This growth is due to several factors, among which: (i) the global spread of market drivers such as population ageing and western-style diets and lifestyles; (ii) improved patient access to cancer treatments; (iii) increasing sophistication (and hence the cost!) of small molecule and biological anti-cancer therapies.
Drawing on a range of core competencies including phenotypical and “traditional” high-throughput screening, microscopy, chemistry R&D, medicinal chemistry, molecular modeling and animal cancer models, Ecrins Therapeutics discovers and develops bioactive small molecules.
Prior to the creation of Ecrins Therapeutics, the founders of the company, working at Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), and in collaboration with chemists of the Institut Curie (Paris), launched a project aiming to uncover novel regulators of cell division, and its “engine”, the mitotic spindle. By definition, research on cell division is almost synonymous with studies on cancer cell proliferation; hence any small molecule interfering with cell division becomes a potential drug candidate.
Using proprietary cell phenotype-based screening, our team discovered a series of bioactive small molecules. We went on to establish a "proof of concept" for their activity both in vitro against human cancer cells and in vivo in the animal models of cancer, leading to a patent put in place by the Joseph Fourier University and the Institut Curie/CNRS. This technology, licensed-in from the above academic institutions, formed the basis on which Ecrins Therapeutics was launched.
All of the Ecrins Therapeutics’ product candidates emanate from discoveries made using our proprietary drug discovery platform. In particularly, we made use of our knowledge of cell biology and live-cell microscopy to identify compounds active in cancer-related pathways. Our drugs discovery program makes use of diverse chemical compound libraries, acquired from both academic and commercial sources. Our expertise and scientific insight allowed us to build efficient drug discovery algorithms. Using the latter, we are able to identify and select bioactive molecules faster and with better properties, than following the “traditional” drug screening approaches.
