Press Release
Arrakis Therapeutics Named as an “Endpoints 11” Disruptive Biotech Company of 2017
Waltham, Mass., January 10, 2018 – Arrakis Therapeutics, a pioneering biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has been named by Endpoints News as one of the “Endpoints 11” biotechnology companies of 2017. This award designates Arrakis as one of the most promising private biotechnology companies with a “disruptive” approach to discovering and developing new medicines.
Based on new understandings of the structure of RNA, Arrakis is designing RNA-targeted small molecules, or rSMs, as a new class of medicines that directly bind and modify the biological function of RNA to treat disease.
“We are honored to be recognized as an Endpoints 11 company for Arrakis’ pioneering approach to target RNA with small molecule drugs,” said Michael Gilman, PhD, chief executive officer of Arrakis Therapeutics. “The award serves as a tribute to our team’s progress and relentless focus to ‘drug the undruggable’ with our exceptional team of scientific leaders, employees, and investors who are enabling us to transform the way that RNA is targeted to bring innovative treatments to patients.”
John Carroll, Editor-in-Chief of Endpoints News, commented in his story for the inaugural Endpoints 11 awards, “Gilman’s background gave him exactly the kind of experience he needed to see the potential that CSO and company founder Jennifer Petter was working with … honing the bioinformatics tools, assays and chemical libraries needed to get started at Arrakis. Arrakis was out of the public gate first.”
The Endpoints 11 recognizes the “disruptive” potential of biotech start-ups that reflect the key attributes that characterize the potential of a biotech to launch new medicines: a top team, technology and scientific ambition for new generations of medicines, and sufficient capital with support from investors and partners.
“We greatly appreciate this industry recognition that Arrakis is at the leading edge of elucidating how RNA can be targeted with small molecules through a comprehensive approach to re-architecting drug discovery tools to target RNA structures,” said Jennifer C. Petter, PhD, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Arrakis Therapeutics. “There is widespread excitement about the potential for this new therapeutic approach to yield innovative medicines to address diseases that are beyond the reach of today’s medicines.”
About RNA-targeted Small Molecules (rSMs)
Emerging insights and technologies focused on understanding the structure of RNA enable the design of RNA-targeted small molecules, or rSMs, a new class of medicines that directly bind and modify the biological function of RNA to treat disease. Unlike conventional drug discovery approaches that focus on proteins, an rSM is designed to modulate function of an individual RNA, and, in the case of mRNA, the expressed protein, by selectively binding to specific, predictable structures in functional regions in the RNA. This new drug discovery approach enables the design of small-molecule drugs that can unlock the therapeutic potential of well-known targets that are not accessible with today’s drugs, as well as identifying new drug targets to intervene in diseases in new ways.
About Arrakis Therapeutics
Arrakis Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery of a new class of medicines that directly target RNA. The company has developed a proprietary platform to identify new RNA targets and drug candidates to treat diseases unaddressed by today’s medicines. Arrakis is building a proprietary pipeline of RNA-targeted small molecules focused on neurologic diseases, cancer, and rare genetic diseases. The company brings together scientific leaders in RNA structure, chemistry and biology, along with a highly experienced management team and the backing of leading life sciences investors. The company is located in Waltham, Mass. Please visit www.arrakistx.com.
