Delta 4, a biotech company using its proven digital drug discovery platform to identify new indications for approved drugs, today announced recent results achieved in two drug discovery and development programs. In its lead program, which aims at developing a therapy for Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare kidney disease affecting children and adults, Delta 4 concluded pre-clinical development with promising results. The Company initiated patent filing and is currently preparing for clinical testing of selected drug candidates.
In recent years, Delta 4’s drug discovery platform was successfully applied in contract research for global pharma and biotechnology companies. The platform integrates in-silico drug discovery and big data analysis with extensive expertise in molecular biology and clinical development. Due to its unique technology, Delta 4 delivers not only drug candidates but also a mechanistic hypothesis about the underlying mode of action, significantly increasing their value for pharmaceutical development.
Delta 4 also announced that, in addition to FSGS, it recently applied its drug discovery platform to COVID-19 to identify existing drugs that may have benefits in this disease. The company is currently evaluating a short list of potential COVID-19 therapies pre-clinically and is considering partners to further develop its most promising COVID-19 drug candidates.
“Our proprietary drug discovery platform has demonstrated its capabilities in contract research for industrial customers. We are pleased that it now delivered high quality candidates in our in-house discovery and development programs”, said Kurt Herpel, CEO, Delta 4. “Our goal is to make a difference for FSGS patients, many of them children, for whom currently no adequate treatment is available. For this reason, we are committed to further explore the potential of our FSGS candidates in the clinic as fast as possible.”
Herpel added: “Earlier this year we also applied our drug discovery platform to additional indications with urgent medical need, including COVID-19. After working on this disease for just 8 weeks, we are now evaluating a short list of existing drugs that can be expected to be beneficial in the treatment of COVID-19. Among the potential substances identified by our drug discovery platform were several compounds with well-known anti-viral properties such as nucleoside analogues that are now widely studied as anti-COVID-19 therapies. This makes us even more confident of the potential of the other candidates delivered by our drug discovery platform.”
About Delta 4
Delta 4 is a Vienna-based drug discovery and development company, combining in-silico drug discovery and big data analysis with extensive expertise in molecular biology and clinical development to a powerful proprietary drug discovery platform. This platform generates promising drug candidates annotated with biological and medical information, resulting in a fast track to establish a clinical proof of concept.
The Company focuses on the discovery of novel indications for approved drugs (drug repositioning). In its first therapeutic area, Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a devastating renal disease with high and urgent medical need, Delta 4 has identified and pre-clinically validated promising drug candidates that are currently prepared for clinical proof-of-concept. In addition, the Company applies its drug discovery platform to other indications, including COVID-19.
Delta 4 was founded in 2019. The company is in the midst of a second financing round to accelerate its development programs and to provide clinical proof of concept. On this basis, Delta 4 plans to attract strong industry partners to leverage the full potential of its platform and its drug candidates for the benefit of patients.