Benzinga | Aug 5, 2021 07:25AM EDT

Second Genome And Arena Pharmaceuticals Announce Collaboration To 'Identify Gastrointestinal Biomarkers'; Financial Details Not Disclosed

Second Genome, a biotechnology company that leverages its proprietary platform sg-4-sight to discover and develop precision therapies and biomarkers from public and proprietary microbiome data, today announced they are entering a strategic collaboration with Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) to identify microbiome biomarkers associated with clinical response for their lead program in gastroenterology, etrasimod.

Under the terms of the agreement, Second Genome will utilize its proprietary sg-4-sight discovery engine to identify microbiome biomarkers associated with clinical benefit or adverse effects observed within data from the CULTIVATE clinical trial. Arena's CULTIVATE trial is a Phase 2/3 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of etrasimod, a next-generation, once-daily, oral, highly selective sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator, in patients with moderately-to-severely active Crohn's disease. This work will help inform patient stratification and optimize potential treatments for patients in the future.

"The multi-disciplinary capabilities of our sg-4-sight platform and our team's deep expertise enable Second Genome to collaborate with partners as we continue to advance our own pipeline of precision therapeutics and biomarkers," said Karim Dabbagh, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Second Genome. "Arena shares our commitment to unlocking innovative ways to improve human health. We look forward to working with Arena and applying our sg-4-sight platform to discover microbiome signals in Crohn's disease patients."

"There is substantial evidence that gut microbiome is intricately involved in therapy response in gastrointestinal diseases," said Amit D. Munshi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arena Pharmaceuticals. "We are pleased to collaborate with Second Genome to discover microbiome biomarkers predictive of clinical response as we continue to progress our CULTIVATE clinical trial."