Lunac Therapeutics Gains Funding for Project to Develop Next-Generation Anticoagulant

A drug discovery company based in the United Kingdom, Lunac Therapeutics, has been awarded funding worth £3.14 million (US$4.11 million) under Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst program.

The funding, which has been provided to Lunac Therapeutics along with the Medicines Discovery Catapult and the University of Leeds, will be used to develop an innovative anticoagulant treatment with minimal bleeding risk, to better meet patient needs. Through collaborative work, the three organizations receiving funding will advance the discovery of a new class of highly specific anticoagulant compounds that block an activated clotting enzyme, Factor XII.

“New anticoagulant treatments are desperately needed,” said Helen Philippou, scientific founder of Lunac Therapeutics, in a Dec. 2, 2019 press release. “Lunac’s research has shown that targeting activated Factor XII has the potential to offer a new treatment option for patients, and we are therefore delighted to have secured Biomedical Catalyst funding to help drive this exciting project forward.”

Dr. Peter Simpson, chief scientific officer of Medicines Discovery Catapult, added, “Bringing together deep disease understanding from Leeds and Lunac with the extensive drug discovery and development experience of the Medicines Discovery Catapult creates an exciting program with the potential to transform the landscape of anticoagulant treatments, and to impact the lives of patients who rely on such treatments in a meaningful way.”

“This new collaboration will address the need for anti-clotting therapies with great efficacy and minimal bleeding risk,” stated Andy Duley, director of commercialization, University of Leeds, in the press release. “The differentiation of this approach should eliminate the risk of increased bleeding, marking a step-change in the management of the thrombosis.”

Source: Medicines Discovery Catapult