ARRIS PHARMACEUTICAL's $ 8 MIL. IN FIRST-ROUND FINANCING is earmarked for three research projects for orally-active drugs for cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. The firm, headed by former Genetech VP-Medicinal and Biomolecular Chemistry Michael Ross, PhD, was founded in May 1989 by C.W. Group venture capitalist Chuck Hartman. The seed round of financing raised $ 8 mil. for the startup, which combines researchers and advisors in the fields of molecular biology, cell biology, peptide chemistry, X-ray crystallography, applied mathematics and computational science. South San Francisco-based Arris is using artificial intelligence tools such as robotics, machine vision and machine learning to develop "new molecular shape representations and identify important structural patterns in those shapes," the firm said. A daily pill to treat atherosclerosis is the firm's initial product-development effort. Arris is also working on an oral replacement for erythropoietin and "a series of products in the pulmonary area." The atherosclorosis treatment is a collaborative project with Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers to develop a macrophage scavenger receptor (MSR) inhibitor. The potential therapeutic would block the formation of "foam cells" -- formed when macrophages bind with "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol -- and the subsequent formation of artery-clogging plaque. An MSR inhibitor could be used in conjunction with cholesterol-lowering drugs, Arris noted. The R&D firm expects to sign up a corporate partner "within the next year," the company said. Arris initially plans to license worldwide rights to its products, with the eventual goal of retaining some rights for products in certain niche markets. In addition to Ross, who is president, CEO and chief technical officer, former Genetech employees now at Arris are Chief Financial Officer Mark Hirsch and Stanford University professor Richard Lawn, PhD. Hirsch was VP of business development at Genentech from 1985-88 and subsequently was a partner at Mongtomery Medical Ventures, L.P. II until 1991. Lawn, a molecular biologist who is professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford, spent 10 years at Genentech and ultimately was the company's senior scientist.
Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on Pink Sheet for daily insights
Already a subscriber?
Advanz Pharma would have had to show that the European Commission’s decision to revoke Ocaliva’s conditional marketing approval risked causing serious and irreparable harm, according to lawyers from Van Bael & Bellis.
This is your final call to participate in the survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. The deadline is 20 September.
We are conducting a survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. If there are any changes you’d like to see in coverage topics, article format, or the method in which you access the Pink Sheet – or if you love it how it is – now is the time to have your voice heard.
A new pilot aims to take Brazil closer to ‘digital transformation.’
Pediatric Advisory Committee will weigh the FDA's recommendation that routine safety monitoring continue for Merck & Co's Gardasil and Sanofi's Fluzone and Dengvaxia despite a political climate that has been unkind to vaccines.
Insurance trade groups warned that the Big Beautiful Bill destabilize Medicaid and result in the largest ever roll-back in health care coverage in the US.
Companies can propose specific issues for discussion during the regulators’ monthly teleconferences, which focus on finding areas of agreement and reasons for nonalignment on specific pediatric development plans or general issues.
