BlackThorn Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted medicines to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced the advancement of Phase 2 clinical development for its lead drug candidate, BTRX-335140 (BTRX-140), a selective antagonist for the kappa opioid receptor (KOR). Dosing has now begun in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial for BTRX-140 in a subpopulation of patients with major depressive disorder.nThe KOR neuropeptide system is an important mediator of the negative effects of stress-induced alterations on mood, emotional regulation and motivation. KOR antagonism is a novel therapeutic approach, which offers the potential to address key drivers of disability, such as depressed mood, anxiety, anhedonia and cognitive impairment. These clinical symptoms commonly occur in multiple CNS disorders, but are not adequately addressed by currently available medications for many people seeking therapy.
Health and tech venture group Polaris Partners, which counts Alector, Alnylam and Editas Medicine as part of its portfolio, is setting up its ninth fund, roughly two years after it closed Polaris VIII with $435 million in the bank, surpassing its target by $35 million.
BlackThorn Therapeutics raised $76 million to push at least one of its targeted treatments for neurobehavioral disorders into phase 2 trials and to keep working on the machine learning-based technology that underlies its clinical pipeline.
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BlackThorn Therapeutics, a neurobehavioral health company leveraging its proprietary computational psychiatry platform to develop targeted therapeutics, today announced positive Phase 1 results and new translational data supporting development of BTRX-335140, the company’s selective kappa opioid receptor (KOR) antagonist, for neurobehavioral disorders. The findings were presented at the Kappa Therapeutics 2019 Conference that took place March 28 – 30 in Seattle, Washington.
Biomatics raises $300M for healthcare fund, recruits biopharma veterans
BlackThorn Therapeutics Names Bill Martin, Ph.D., President and Chief Operating Officer
Jnana is targeting the more than 400 cell membrane proteins known as solute carriers, which transport a wide range of molecules, ions and metabolites, in applications against inflammatory bowel disease and monogenic diseases. The underexplored group of druggable targets has seen fewer than 20 approved drugs so far.
BlackThorn Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing targeted treatments for neurobehavioral disorders, today announced that it is entering into an exclusive licensing agreement with Yale University School of Medicine as part of its ongoing multi-year collaboration with Yale’s Division of Neurocognition, Neurocomputation, and Neurogenetics (N3). With the goal of advancing the understanding of the neurobiological basis of dysregulated mood and behavior, BlackThorn is licensing GEMINI-DOT (Gene Expression Mapping Integrated with Neuro-Imaging for Discovery Of Therapeutics), an innovative technology that was co-developed by BlackThorn and professors Alan Anticevic, Ph.D., and John Murray, Ph.D., of Yale University.
BlackThorn Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing targeted treatments for neurobehavioral disorders, today announced the appointment of a key strategic executive to the company’s board of directors, George S. Golumbeski, Ph.D. Dr. Golumbeski most recently served as executive vice president of business development at Celgene Corporation.
BlackThorn Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing targeted treatments for neurobehavioral disorders, today announced enrollment of the first healthy volunteers in a Phase 1 study of BTRX-335140, a kappa opioid receptor (KOR) antagonist that targets brain circuits that modulate the negative effects of stress on behavior.