05 Mar 2021
EpiEndo, in cooperation with AlveoliX from Switzerland, will receive grant funding from the corresponding national innovation agencies: the Technology Development Fund in Iceland and Innosuisse in Switzerland.
EpiEndo will start a new program developing novel drugs for the safe and effective treatment of ulcerative colitis using the Company's proprietary technology and Barriolide™ compounds. These compounds have barrier enhancing effects and anti-inflammatory activity.
AlveoliX will develop a novel organ-on-a-chip model mimicking the colon epithelium of UC patients, which will be used for the screening of EpiEndo’s potential lead compounds with promising effects on the GI tract epithelium.
About Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by chronic inflammation and ulcers in the colon and rectum that causes recurring symptoms, which greatly affect the quality of life of 2.3M UC patients globally.
About EpiEndo
EpiEndo is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a proprietary portfolio of innovative therapies to address the huge global burden of chronic diseases with significant unmet medical needs. EpiEndo’s development is based on research carried out at the University of Iceland for more than a decade.
EPIcoliX represents EpiEndo’s second development project following EP395, the Company's lead drug candidate under development for the treatment of chronic airways diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
If successfully developed and approved, EpiEndo’s lead drug candidate, EP395, has the potential to be the first therapy for the treatment of respiratory diseases that are characterized as inflammation of the epithelium. EP395 aims to be the first on-market oral, disease modifying, non-antibiotic, barrier strengthening and anti-inflammatory macrolide
About Alveolix
AlveoliX is a young Swiss-based organ-on-chip company spun out from the University of Bern in 2019 with its first product, the 3D stretchable AX Lung-on-Chip System. Alveolix’ headquarters are located at Sitem-Insel in Bern, a national center of excellence fostering translational medicine, whereas their production site is based in the Swiss Innovation Park, in Nidau. The proprietary AX organ-on-chip technology enhances predictive power in the early and late pre-clinical drug development phase. In its mission, AlveoliX aims to provide human organs-on-chip solutions for speeding up pre-clinical decision-making and reducing avoidable animal testing. www.alveolix.com