Candiate: SAR443122 (DNL758)
Type: Small molecule inhibitor of RIPK1 that does not cross the blood-brain barrier, and is in development for patients with peripheral inflammatory diseases
Status: Denali said July 29 that its partner Sanofi had begun dosing SAR443122 (DNL758) in a Phase Ib study (NCT04469621) in hospitalized adults with severe COVID-19 lung disease.
The companies reason that treating severe COVID-19 with a RIPK1 inhibitor compound will attenuate the exaggerated immune response to SARS-CoV-2, therefore limiting potential tissue damage resulting from excessive inflammation and thus improve patient recovery.
Sanofi has agreed to oversee development and commercialization of DNL758, covering all costs related to the drug candidate, as well as pay Denali development and sales milestone payments and royalties on product sales.
Sanofi and Denali launched a global collaboration to develop and commercialize RIPK1 inhibitors in October 2018. The companies are also studying DNL758 for peripheral inflammatory indications, and have another candidate, DNL788, in development for CNS indications.
COVID-19: 200 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >200 potential therapeutic and vaccine options for COVID-19, GEN has grouped the candidates into four broad categories based on their developmental and (where applicable) clinical progress:
● FRONT RUNNER – the most promising therapeutics/vaccines based on clinical progress, favorable data or both.
● DEFINITELY MAYBE – earlier phases with promising partners, or more advanced candidates in development that have generated uneven data.
● KEEPING AN EYE ON… – interesting technology, attracting notable partners, or both, but preliminary data.
● TOO SOON TO TELL – longshots pending additional experimental and/or clinical data.
GEN has also tagged the most common treatment types:
● ANTIVIRAL
● VAX
● ANTIBODY
● RNA
