Lodo Therapeutics Corp., a biotechnology company applying its proprietary platform to reinvent natural product drug discovery, today announced it has achieved a preclinical milestone in its multi-target strategic collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Lodo Therapeutics is using its proprietary genome mining and biosynthetic cluster assembly platform to identify novel molecules with therapeutic potential against multiple disease-related targets of interest to Genentech.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lodo is eligible to receive research, development and commercialization payments based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones. In addition, Lodo received an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive royalties on sales of certain products resulting from the collaboration.
“Achieving this milestone supports the utility of our platform,”
noted Dale Pfost, PhD, Chairman and CEO of Lodo Therapeutics.
“Lodo integrates multiple sequencing and informatics technologies and synthetic biology to identify and advance promising molecules encoded in microbial DNA. These molecules exhibit significant structural diversity and their drug-like bioactivity has been optimized by billions of years of evolution. Our platform allows us to identify, characterize and prioritize these molecules in silico, providing practical access to numerous undiscovered potential drugs. We appreciate the trust and support of our colleagues at Genentech and look forward to continuing progress in this productive relationship.”
Lodo’s technology reinvents environmentally sourced natural product drug discovery. Pharmaceuticals derived from natural sources, while representing more than half of the most widely used drugs, were developed from the tiny fraction of microbes that can be readily cultured in the laboratory. Lodo’s platform integrates next-generation sequencing (NGS), artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), synthetic biology and automation to access, characterize and prioritize undiscovered molecules in silico directly from the biosynthetic gene clusters encoded in microbial DNA. The drug-like molecules produced by microbes exhibit extensive chemical diversity and are all biologically relevant. Lodo’s approach aims to address undruggable therapeutic targets, accelerate the drug discovery process and decrease costs.