Integral Molecular receives $1.4 million from NIH for NASH therapeutic

Integral Molecular received $1.4 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop its lead antibodies against cannabinoid receptor 1 for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and metabolic disorders, according to a press release.

The small business innovative research grant will fund a phase 2 project based on results of a successful phase 1 program that isolated antibodies with high specificity and high affinity for cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1).

Using Integral Molecular’s MPS Antibody Discovery Platform, researchers in the phase 1 program discovered the agonist monoclonal antibody (MAb) IM-102 against CB1 for NASH.

According to a press release, IM-102 inhibits CB1 with 23 times greater potency than a benchmark MAb currently in phase 1 clinical trials.

“The MPS technology delivers large panels of diverse MAbs against membrane proteins, which was required to find highly specific inhibitory CB1 MAbs,” Benjamin Doranz, CEO of Integral Molecular, said in the release. “Given the historic failure of small-molecule drugs targeting CB1, we are excited to offer an ideal therapeutic antibody discovery solution for NASH.”

Reference: www.integralmolecular.com