Jubilant Therapeutics Announces Research Collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, to Evaluate PAD4 Inhibitors in Autoimmune/Inflammation Disease Models

BEDMINSTER, N.J., Feb. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jubilant Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company advancing small molecule modulators to address unmet medical needs in oncology and autoimmune diseases, today announced a collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital to evaluate peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) inhibitors under development by Jubilant Therapeutics to explore the modulation of  neutrophil extracellular traps (NETosis) in preclinical models of neutrophil regulation and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

PAD4 is an enzyme that converts arginine to citrulline in histones and is highly expressed in neutrophils. Histone citrullination has been implicated in the formation of NETs which is believed to contribute to pro-inflammation and disease progression in many autoimmune disorders including RA, fibrosis, lupus and ARDS.

"We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital, whose reputation as the nation's leading pediatric hospital and research enterprise make them an ideal partner as we endeavor to develop the next generation of therapeutics for autoimmune diseases," said Syed Kazmi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jubilant Therapeutics. "Dr. Denisa Wagner, the lead investigator, has extensive experience both in the PAD4 space and the role of NETs in pathological inflammation, and we're thrilled to have her on the team," he added. 

"It is my lab's belief that PAD4-mediated NET formation profoundly contributes to many inflammatory and thrombotic diseases. We concluded this based on our work with mice deficient in PAD4. Specific PAD4 inhibitors, that are well tolerated by animals, would be great for pre-clinical and, later, human studies. We are excited to test the Jubilant Therapeutics inhibitors on isolated neutrophils and, later, in mouse models of RA that we have established in our laboratory," said Denisa Wagner, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Edwin Cohn Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School.

About Boston Children's Hospital

Boston Children's Hospital is ranked the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 8 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 members of the National Academy of Medicine and 12 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children's research community. For more, visit our Discoveries blog and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube.

About Jubilant Therapeutics

Jubilant Therapeutics Inc. is a patient-centric biopharmaceutical company advancing potent and selective small molecule modulators to address unmet medical needs in oncology and autoimmune diseases. Its advanced discovery engine integrates structure-based design and computational algorithms to discover and develop novel, precision therapeutics against both first-in-class and validated but intractable targets in genetically-defined patient populations. The Company's entrepreneurial-minded leadership and scientific teams strive for speed and efficiency by employing a business model that leverages the proven and synergistic capabilities of Jubilant Life Sciences Limited's value chain and shared services. Jubilant Therapeutics is headquartered in the U.S. and guided by globally renowned key opinion leaders and scientific advisory board members.  For more information, please visit www.jubilanttx.com  or follow us on Twitter @JubilantTx and LinkedIn.

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