The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and Entelos announced the establishment of an in silico research facility – based on Entelos’ Type 1 Diabetes PhysioLab of the NOD mouse – to make biosimulation-based research available to academics. The ADA will use a peer-review process in granting access to the platform. At least initially, the center will be based at Entelos’ Foster City, Calif., headquarters.
“This novel approach, using biosimulation to complement basic research, has already uncovered numerous insights into the mechanisms and triggers of this disease. These as well as future insights will hopefully accelerate our understanding of human diabetes and lead to successful ways to treat and prevent it,” says Richard Kahn, chief scientific and medical officer, ADA.
The announcement was made on Sunday at the 66th Annual Diabetes Scientific Sessions, being held in Washington, D.C.
Entelos, a leading systems biology provider, and the ADA are longtime collaborators. The Type 1 Diabetes PhysioLab was developed over a two-year period, with guidance provided by a scientific advisory board of five key scientists in Type 1 diabetes: Mark Atkinson (University of Florida), Jeffrey Bluestone (UCSF), George Eisenbarth (University of Colorado), Diane Mathis (Joslin Diabetes Center), and Aldo Rossini (University of Massachusetts). The platform is currently installed in the laboratories of these researchers.
Biosimulation Buy-In
Quite aside from the obvious benefit to diabetes research, Entelos hopes to gain wider buy-in from the academic community for biosimulation. “I think emphasis is really going to be on getting clear scientific credibility [for biosimulation-based research] established in the academic community, particularly in immunology,” says Jill Fujisaki, an Entelos co-founder and VP of investor relations. “We have a lot of great success stories in the pharmaceutical industry, but I think [of this] as a final nail in the coffin and really establishing, with no question, that this is a powerful way to do research.”
To some extent, Entelos is also test-driving a paradigm change for potentially turning a portion of its biosimulation business into a “core services” offering able to serve more customers concurrently.
“It’s pretty much a classic core facility paradigm,” says Barry Sudbeck, business development and corporate communications, Entelos. “Academic researchers will go through the ADA and receive permission and funding to use the center. They’ll collaborate with Entelos researchers, and provide their challenging data. [Entelos] will do the in silico component of the research and provide the results back.”
The company’s growing portfolio of PhysioLab platforms are customized for particular diseases and have been applied to projects in diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, hematopoiesis, and most recently skin sensitization (with Unilever). These projects vary in length, can entail time-consuming collaboration with a single partner, and as a result have elicited criticism – mostly from competitors – of the scalability of the Entelos business model. Entelos says it’s able to provide faster answers (weeks to months) to targeted questions for clients using well-developed PhysioLabs.
Moving to a core facility concept around a well-developed PhysioLab, as is being done here with diabetes, suggests a way to improve scalability. A portfolio of PhysioLab, all sufficiently well developed to handle many questions and customers, could substantially increase business volume.
Pilot Phase
The ADA and Entelos are jointly funding the initial, one-year pilot phase. Funding sources may change after the center moves to its permanent location. At a minimum, the center will complete four projects in its first year. “Projects will be chosen that show the breadth and depth of the center’s capabilities within this initial period,” says Sudbeck.
Initial projects will likely be done with current scientific advisory board members, because they were involved in development of the platform, says Sudbeck. Entelos is hoping their experience will speed efforts, produce results quickly, and spread awareness through publication of results in peer-reviewed journals.
“This program holds the promise to help us understand how interactions between multiple immune components affect glucose control and the onset of diabetes in the NOD mouse,” said Bluestone in the official press release. “Research in this platform will enable investigation of critical pathways contributing to and regulating autoimmunity and beta cell destruction, thereby potentially providing insights into approaches to evaluate and halt or reverse disease progression.” Bluestone also heads NIH’s Immune Tolerance Network.
The “center” itself will open in the third quarter of 2006, though a few pilot projects have already begun. Plans are to eventually move the center to an academic center. Intellectual property generated during a research project will be ‘owned’ by the academic researchers and their institution. Entelos will continue to ‘own’ the Type 1 Diabetes PhysioLab platform and proprietary methodologies, as well as any modifications made to the platform as a result of a project.
Investing in the Future
Entelos reached a major milestone in April when it went public on the alternative AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and raised $20 million. “We’re getting a lot more visibility. We’re part of this whole wave of companies going overseas and everybody loves to hear about alternative ways to finance, so we’re definitely on the speakers’ circuit,” says Fujisaki.
Entelos will use the cash to build more PhysioLabs, according to Fujisaki, but she did not specify targeted disease areas. For some time, the company has been in discussions with FDA about constructing a hepato-toxicity model, though no definite collaboration has yet been announced.
Last month, Roche extended its collaboration on metabolic disease with Entelos for another two years. Roche will provide R&D funding and milestone payments, and Entelos will conduct biosimulation research using its Metabolism PhysioLab to predict the effects of a drug on metabolic pathways and/or biomarkers.
“With the increase of diabetes and obesity on a global scale, Roche is dedicated to developing new therapies to treat chronic metabolic disorders,” says Jacques Mizrahi, global head of metabolic and vascular diseases at Roche. “As part of this commitment, we believe Entelos’ biosimulation capabilities and disease knowledge will complement Roche’s expertise in metabolic diseases and provide us with cutting-edge technology that will enhance our drug discovery programs.”
Roche plans to analyze existing preclinical and clinical data to optimize future clinical trials. Financial terms were not disclosed.