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Startup Enleofen Highlights Singapore's Homegrown Research, Translational Tech

By David Ho and Cornelia Zou 
Staff Writers, BioWorld (Original article published in BioWorld)

HONG KONG – Singapore startup Enleofen Bio Pte Ltd. has acquired the licensing rights of a breakthrough discovery by the Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Medical School and the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) in cardiovascular fibrosis drivers.

The newly launched company will use the results of the research efforts to develop first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of multiple fibrotic human diseases, including cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis.

"We discovered that a specific cytokine is a key driver and potentiator of TGF-beta in cardiac fibrosis," said Stuart Cook, founder of Enleofen. "Ironically, it has been in plain sight for many years, but unfortunately for patients, this target was completely mischaracterized and hence overlooked."

Cook is also the director of the cardiovascular and metabolic disorders program at Duke-NUS Medical School and a director at the NHCS.

The company is guarding further details regarding the discovery until a journal review on the latest finding is finished.

Fibrosis is the formation of excessive connective tissue, like the formation of scar tissue on wounds during the healing process. But in the case of fibrotic diseases where there is excessive connective tissue, it can disrupt the structure and function of the organ where it forms. That process may affect many areas within the body and is the main pathology behind heart and renal failure.

The development of the intellectual property (IP) was the result of a unique collaborative model among Duke-NUS, NHCS and the National Health Innovation Centre of Singapore (NHIC). The three organizations found a way to work together to "de-risk the discovery and prepare therapeutic technologies for commercial readiness."

David Epstein, director of the Duke-NUS Centre for Technology and Development (CTeD) and vice dean for innovation and entrepreneurship at the university, told BioWorld that this marks the first collaboration between the medical school and a Singapore Health Services (Singhealth) entity.

He acknowledged that there is a "big push" in Singapore to find the next biotech diamond in the rough, but said there are not many academia-industry collaborations models in the country.

Active translation

Epstein aims to mirror the successful venture builder programs in the U.S. with his "active translation model" at Duke-NUS, which is derived from his experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. "The model here is clinical research done within a hospital, similar to many Western-based academic medical centers. This particular collaboration is led by Cook and is driven by his role at the NHCS and as a physician. We don't do clinical research at Duke-NUS and we need Singhealth for that," Epstein explained.

"What makes this such an incredible enterprise is that we're able to essentially have direct access to patients and patient samples to carry out basic biomedical research, which is what makes it unique within an academic setting in Asia," he added.

Epstein's model addresses the lack of physical separation in classic tech transfer environments and presence of an active lab to incubate projects in that arrangement.

As with similar programs in the U.S., it creates pre-commercial incubation in an academic setting, which prepares researchers to take it to venture groups by giving them feedback beforehand.

"The other thing that makes it unique is the support from Duke-NUS for CTeD on active research with other faculty members for collaboration or work validation purposes," he said.

He said the active translation model allows faculty members to carry on with basic research and gives them access to additional funds, as well as exposure to those who have led industrial research. That helps them with the eventual partnering for commercialization and affords them valuable opportunities to be involved with other viable projects.

"This basically gives them three years of meet time and discussion within Duke-NUS to get them ready and find investors who are willing to take an early risk," said Epstein. "What we are doing is unique to Singapore; it's also a way to add value to academic programs and to get products ready for licensing and commercialization."

The Singaporean government is also supportive of innovative medical development. The NHIC was founded in 2014 with a part of public sector financing intended to fund clinical research and early clinician scientists. That fund is earmarked specifically for programs like Cook's, which has a clear product profile.

"If you look at the public-sector finance that's available here for translational research in biomedical studies, it's quite substantial," said Epstein.

Experts from the NHIC will validate the programs before they invest.

"The power of the active translation model is that it works in an environment where there isn't a ready source of risk capital that would come in at pre-series A [financing] stage," he added.

Epstein said there would be another two new companies emerging by the end of this year based on technologies developed by Duke-NUS faculty members, and they will be in the areas of cell therapy and drug delivery to the brain.

"There's so much homegrown [technology development] happening here in Singapore. More and more people are doing what we're doing," said Epstein. "We are just beginning to build the ecosystem."

Original article published in BioWorld.