Five years ago, a small startup led by biotech veteran Michael Gilman announced progress against a cancer gene that had bedeviled drug developers for 40 years.
Known as Myc, it was one of the first so-called oncogenes ever discovered. It’s mutated or dysregulated in perhaps 70% of all cancers. The challenge is that the protein it creates is “intrinsically disordered” — which is chemist-speak for “spaghetti-esque”, lacking a clear pocket where chemists can aim a deactivating molecule.
There are many proteins like this, known cellular miscreants that persist because scientists just can’t find a way to take them down. Gilman’s startup, Arrakis, had a radical solution. It would skip the protein. Instead, the startup — which derives its name from the frontier planet in Dune, source of life-extending “spice” — claimed it could do what chemists also thought near-impossible: Create molecules that intercept mRNA, preventing the protein from even being produced.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
