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Allegro aided in drug development by Helmsley Charitable Trust grant
Entrepreneurial philanthropy may help bridge the monetary gap between drug research and clinical applications.
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A $652,000 grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has enabled the advancement of Allegro Ophthalmics’ lead molecule, ALG-1001, which targets retinal vascular eye diseases including ocular diabetic complications.
The grant, awarded in late 2011, was made to Peter A. Campochiaro, MD, a professor of ophthalmology and neuroscience at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University, who had been pursuing research of ALG-1001. The research on ALG-1001 and the opportunity to benefit diabetes patients came to the attention of the New York-based Helmsley Charitable Trust in part through Marc Kirshbaum, COO of Allegro, who had an established relationship with the trust.
Marc Kirshbaum
“Since one of the trust’s programs focuses on type 1 diabetes and vision loss is a serious and real complication of diabetes, there was a natural overlap between the goals of the trust and Allegro,” Kirshbaum said.
Grant award
“Dr. Campochiaro is a leading researcher and expert in neovascular eye diseases,” Kirshbaum said. “Most drugs that have been studied and/or brought to market to treat vascular eye diseases have come through Dr. Campochiaro’s laboratory.”
The grant permitted Campochiaro to conduct several mouse-model efficacy studies, as well as conduct basic science research at the California Institute of Technology, good manufacturing practices (GMP) of Allegro’s material and radiolabeled ocular studies.
Kirshbaum is part of the original executive team at Allegro, which was founded in 2010 and initially funded solely by its founders. The grant and an undisclosed Series A round of funding raised in 2011 and 2012 represent the first outside fundraising for the company. Subsequently, Allegro has entered into a Japanese licensing agreement with Senju Pharmaceutical that included, in part, an eight-digit up-front license fee.
“With the grant and Series A, we were able to generate significant animal and human safety and efficacy data that was then leveraged as part of our license and collaborative agreement with Senju Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. of Japan in May 2013,” Kirshbaum said.
ALG-1001 is currently in phase 2 studies for multiple indications: diabetic macular edema, wet age-related macular degeneration and vitreomacular traction.
Gina Agiostratidou
“We provided Johns Hopkins University with the entire amount that they requested,” Gina Agiostratidou, PhD, senior program officer of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said. “One of the complications of type 1 diabetes is retinopathy, for which there exist some drugs. But Allegro’s overall development program, together with Johns Hopkins’ research experience and abilities, offers another avenue for therapy.”
The grant was also judged on business opportunity.
“Allegro has very strong intellectual property, a good business model, and strong and established leadership,” Agiostratidou said.
Agiostratidou was happy the money was awarded to Johns Hopkins University. “I think the outcome really helped Allegro achieve the next step in getting this treatment to patients. The company also continues to be successful with clinical trials for many ophthalmic indications,” she said.
Although Johns Hopkins has not requested any additional funding from the trust, “we welcome the opportunity to access any additional needs,” Agiostratidou said. “When we invest in people and in projects, we like to ensure that they are successful and able to transition to other funding sources.”
When seeking entrepreneurial philanthropy, companies should identify charitable organizations or disease advocacy groups that are already aligned with the focus of the company, according to Kirshbaum.
“For us, our drug would treat one of the biggest complications of diabetes, which is vision loss. So we aligned ourselves with an organization that is dedicated to diabetes,” he said.
Philanthropic constraints
Kirshbaum said it is important that companies understand the constraints of philanthropic organizations participating financially.
“For example, if a company approaches a nonprofit entity for a grant, it is likely that the entity is not structured to be able to make a grant to a for-profit corporation, and this must be considered if a for-profit entity is going to pursue funding from nonprofit sources,” he said.
Pursuing a pipeline of multiple opportunities is also advantageous. For instance, within the diabetes space, numerous nonprofit entities are focused on different aspects of diabetes. Two of the largest nonprofits in the field are the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the American Diabetes Association.
“Some organizations only fund early university discovery research, while others will fund only when the project has reached the stage of treating humans in a clinic,” Kirshbaum said.
Applying for a Helmsley Charitable Trust grant is mostly by invitation. “However, we periodically consider particularly compelling requests that might improve the lives of people with type 1 diabetes,” Agiostratidou said. “I believe entrepreneurial philanthropy is important to bridge the gap between early discoveries and clinical applications. We are committed to identifying all the appropriate players in the field.”
The type 1 diabetes program of the trust provides grants primarily for academic institutions, but it also supports select companies through its technology portfolio. Since starting active grant giving in late 2008, the trust has disbursed more than $1 billion, with about 75% of contributions going toward health projects, including more than $200 million for type 1 diabetes alone.
“This whole concept of venture philanthropy is incredibly nascent,” Kirshbaum said. “Many people are just now starting to talk about it and fewer are even acting upon it.” – by Bob Kronemyer