Benzinga | Nov 18, 2021 07:39AM EST

Biohaven, Artizan Bio Report Therapeutic Development Program In Parkinson's Disease

Biohaven to leverage Artizan's biobanking expertise and proprietary drug discovery engine to create Parkinson's disease drug development program

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artizan Biosciences, Inc. ("Artizan"), a biotechnology company at the frontier of microbiome precision medicine, and Biohaven Therapeutics Ltd. ((&ldquo, Biohaven&rdquo, , NYSE:BHVN), a commercial-stage Neuroinnovation company, today announced the companies are initiating a therapeutic discovery and development program in Parkinson's disease (PD), to exploit recent scientific advances in the understanding of pathogenic roles played by the gut microbiome in PD. This follows the companies' first collaboration announced in March 2021 centered on Artizan-discovered product candidates for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The PD research program will initially focus on sample collection, animal model and research capabilities development, and identification of microorganisms ("pathobionts") that can promote alpha-synuclein pathology, which is the hallmark of PD, and the onset and progression of disease symptoms. The collaboration will subseqently concentrate on discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics designed to block the harmful effects of these pathobionts.

Bridget Martell, M.D., Artizan's President and CEO, said, "We are excited to expand our collaboration with Biohaven to address Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease with high unmet need that may benefit from our innovative and validated approach to develop small molecule therapeutics that target the microbiome. An increasingly compelling body of evidence suggests the gut-brain axis plays a pivotal role in the development of PD, offering the opportunity to pursue this novel treatment strategy."

Artizan will leverage its experience creating IBD-BIOME, the company's flagship biobanking program in IBD, which collected clinical data from over 1,500 proprietary longitudinal patient samples. IBD-BIOME aided the identification of pathobionts through its proprietary drug discovery platform utlilizing IgA-SEQ(tm) technology that allowed the company to progress three clinical drug programs intended for the treatment of IBD. Artizan will similarly develop a "PD-BIOME" biobanking program, supporting the screening of patient samples and subsequent identification of new pathobionts and potential therapies for PD.

Irfan Qureshi, M.D., Vice President of Neurology at Biohaven, commented, "We look forward to broadening our partnership with Artizan and enhancing our early stage pipeline. The microbiome is at the nexus of immunity, inflammation, metabolism, and brain-systemic communication, which are all deregulated in Parkinson's disease. Artizan's highly differentiated IgA-SEQ technology and proven microbiome-targeted small molecule platform, combined with Biohaven's deep expertise in neurological diseases, provides a unique opportunity to develop cutting-edge therapeutics for PD."