The language of drug development is often militaristic. Medicinal chemists build arsenals of small molecules—looking for inhibitors or “warheads” that can hit “targets” and “combat” disease. Block, eliminate, disrupt, halt.
For decades, drug makers have sought “magic bullets” that can precisely destroy pathogenic proteins. Small molecules, biologics, siRNA and CRISPR offer different modalities to reduce or impede the activity of therapeutic targets: “I have spent my entire career inhibiting protein targets,” explains Victoria Richon, CEO of Entact Bio and a veteran drug maker…
Sometimes, complex disease calls for a different type of weapon. Rather than inhibiting proteins by reducing their abundance or blocking their activity, a drug may need to increase the levels or improve the function of endogenous molecules: “the exciting challenge is to create a new class of medicines that enhance these beneficial proteins,” says Richon. Entact was founded to take on that challenge…
