Hoth Therapeutics Reports Finishing Up a Busy Year of Research Across its Portfolio of Drug Candidates

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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Hoth Therapeutics HOTH is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company working on a portfolio of clinical and preclinical drug candidates for chronic conditions ranging from skin ailments like acne and eczema to respiratory problems like asthma and allergies. Here are the research milestones the company reported this year and what to possibly look forward to in 2022. 

Hoth Reports Progress on a Number of Pipeline Therapeutics  

In March, the company executed an agreement with ReproCELL Ltd. 4978 to study the therapeutic potential of HT-003, an anti-inflammatory drug candidate for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The companies extended that agreement in October after preliminary animal data showed that the drug candidate could reduce levels of inflammatory cytokines associated with IBDs.

That same month, Hoth also entered a research agreement with the University of Cincinnati Research Institute to study HT-006, a potential antibiotic treatment for multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial lung infections like cystic fibrosis, hospital-acquired pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In May, amid reporting positive early results for its COVID-19 drug candidate, Hoth expanded its research agreement with Virginia Commonwealth University to continue investigating HT-002. If approved, Hoth would hold an exclusive license to the novel COVID-19 therapeutic.

In Vivo studies of HT-003, Hoth’s retinoic acid metabolism blocking agents (RAMBA) derived treatment for acne yielded positive results in July. The acne treatment effectively reduced the expression of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), a key pathway responsible for severe acne conditions. 

Animal trials began in August for HT-ALZ, Hoth’s Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate intended to improve learning and memory by blocking NK-1Rs — a neuroreceptor believed to play a role in neuroinflammatory disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.  

In November, Hoth announced a sponsored research agreement with North Carolina State University to continue research on HT-KIT, a novel cancer therapeutic that would target a receptor in cancer cells to stop them from proliferating. It already saw positive early results for cancer treatment in preclinical animal studies earlier this year.

The company intends to accelerate that research by scaling up production of the active pharmaceutical ingredient through new manufacturing contracts with STA Pharmaceutical (which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wuxi WUXAY), a pharmaceutical developer.

This month, Hoth licensed HT-005 back to Zylö Therapeutics. The novel cannabinoid therapeutic is being developed as a topical treatment for cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), a painful skin disease that affects about two-thirds of patients with lupus. After early animal studies showed that the drug candidate was effective at reducing the skin plaques associated with the disease, the new licensing deal grants additional equity to Hoth and the potential to earn royalties if the treatment reaches the market. It also removes the cost burden as Zylö Therapeutics will take over the costs of future development.

What Hoth is Expecting in 2022

With seven therapeutics undergoing preclinical research and more that have already begun Phase 1 clinical trials, Hoth reportedly has a lot of irons in the fire, but the company says that it already has enough cash on hand to carry it through all of the clinical and preclinical programs in its pipeline.

Further preclinical research on HT-005, the topical CLE treatment, is set to begin in the first quarter of 2022 along with additional studies of HT-006, the MDR bacterial lung infection  treatment. 

Hoth and STA Pharmaceutical also plan to begin drug product development for its cancer therapeutic in early 2022 with the hope of starting preliminary toxicology studies by the second quarter.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.