Academics Profit From Body’s Shock Troops
Sometimes, they say, the cure is as bad as the disease. Even, sometimes, the cure that comes from the body’s own immune system, and few more so than those precipitated by inflammasomes, the shock troops of our biological defences.
If they go rogue (and they often do), they can precipitate a range of nasty ailments ranging from some cancers to more familiar autoimmune diseases like asthma and arthritis. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, coronary diseases, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis and even clinical depression can also be the unintended consequence of a cascade of inflammasomes, sparked by a relatively minor assault to our bodies.
Inflammasomes were only discovered as recently as 2002 at the University of Lausanne. Normally, as their name suggests, they provoke inflammation as a way of ridding the body of infected or damaged cells. However, the Lausanne research showed that when particular types of inflammasomes misbehaved, instead of a transient inflammation a serious immunosuppressive disease could occur.
A decade later TCD immunologist and popular science writer Prof. Luke O’Neill was examining the role of NLRP3, an inflammasome implicated in Type 2 Diabetes, among other diseases. He had
formed a partnership with Australian scientist Matt Cooper to identify compounds that could tame runaway inflammasomes. They formed Inflazome in 2016 to capitalise on their joint research. Cooper became CEO while O’Neill’s role was chief scientist.
Venture capitalists such as Fountain Healthcare Partners queued up to give them research cash and the company raised €55m over four years.
Two promising Inflazome drugs are already in early clinical trials: Inzomelid, for neurodegenerative diseases, and Somalix, for non-brain autoimmune diseases.
Although they have only completed stage one trials (first time in humans) that predict their safety but not their efficacy, the drugs are still potential winners as far as Roche Pharmaceuticals is concerned. The Swiss pharma giant is paying a reported €380m for control of
Inflazome, and if optimum earnout criteria are met the final payout could be even higher.
Though the founders, staff and a score of small investors have done well out of the deal, the largest rewards have gone to venture finance providers Novartis Bioventures, Forbion Capital Partners, Longitude Holdings and Fountain Healthcare Partners.
The takeover closed on 18 September 2020, and in the company’s annual return made up to Sept. 16, Luke O’Neill’s shareholding was 1.23% and Matt Cooper’s was 3.72%. On Sept. 17, Fountain Healthcare was allotted 16.9m shares, expanding the total shares in issue by 38%. Law firm ByrneWallace was burning the midnight oil managing other allotments to Inflazome staff in the days before the deal conclusion, and if they’re all counted in then O’Neill’s shareholding grew to 3.5% and Cooper’s increased to 5.1%.