Cambridge, UK – 10th December, 2024 – Ignota Labs, the AI-driven drug turnaround company, today announced the in-licensing of its first fully-owned asset, a proprietary PDE9A inhibitor. This strategic acquisition marks a significant milestone in Ignota’s mission to revitalise assets with previous safety issues and get them to the clinic in record time.
PDE9A inhibition enhances cellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels, a critical signalling molecule with wide-ranging effects across key physiological pathways. By increasing cGMP, this first-in-class PDE9A inhibitor harnesses a cascade of pleiotropic effects, offering the potential to treat diverse conditions including cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases.
“The in-licensing of this PDE9A inhibitor represents a pivotal advancement for Ignota Labs,” said Sam Windsor, CEO of Ignota Labs. “Our expertise in drug revitalisation, combined with this asset’s unique multi-action profile, positions us to address unmet medical needs across various therapeutic areas.”
Historically, therapeutic development has focused on highly specific mechanisms of action. However, recent advances in systems biology and clinical insights have underscored the importance of multi-action drugs that engage interconnected pathways, particularly for complex and chronic conditions. PDE9, once an under-explored target, is now gaining recognition as pivotal in regulating homeostasis across key organ systems, creating immense potential for widespread clinical impact.
“The scientific understanding of PDE9’s role in cellular signalling has evolved rapidly over the past decade,” commented Dr. Jordan Lane, Chief Scientific Officer at Ignota Labs. “This in-licensing agreement positions Ignota Labs at the forefront of this emerging field, equipping us to lead the charge in developing therapies that deliver simultaneous benefits across multiple disease domains.”
The global therapeutic landscape is increasingly moving towards precision medicine approaches that integrate multi-modal efficacy. Ignota’s PDE9A inhibitor reflects this evolution, targeting underlying dysregulation in cGMP signalling that is implicated in a wide range of diseases and offers a route to metabolic health through a unique mechanism, with potential synergies to GLP-1 agonists and the like.
Ignota Labs plans to finalise the preclinical development of the candidate and engage in discussions with regulatory agencies to accelerate the pathway to clinical trials.
This milestone underscores Ignota Labs’ commitment to revitalising pioneering therapies that redefine the treatment paradigm for complex diseases. The company’s broader mission remains focused on leveraging cutting-edge science to develop life-changing treatments that improve patient outcomes worldwide.
Ignota Labs turns around promising but failing drugs, bringing new life to abandoned projects and new hope to patients. The company's SAFEPATH platform integrates bioinformatics, cheminformatics, proprietary data, and AI to tackle safety issues in drug development, ensuring that promising drugs can safely reach the market. For more information, visit www.ignotalabs.ai.
