{"id":604516,"date":"2024-06-03T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/eli-lilly-adds-als-drug-prospect-with-quralis-deal\/"},"modified":"2024-06-03T07:02:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T11:02:53","slug":"eli-lilly-adds-als-drug-prospect-with-quralis-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/eli-lilly-adds-als-drug-prospect-with-quralis-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Eli Lilly adds ALS drug prospect with QurAlis deal","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/eli-lilly-adds-als-drug-prospect-with-quralis-deal.webp\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>QurAlis, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company developing drugs for neurodegenerative diseases, on Monday announced it has licensed an experimental medicine for ALS and frontotemporal dementia to Eli Lilly.<\/li>\n<li>Lilly will pay the startup $45 million upfront for rights to a therapy called QRL-204 and currently in preclinical development. Should the drug hit certain milestones, QurAlis could receive up to $577 million in additional payouts. The two will work together to develop other, similar medicines as well.<\/li>\n<li>Lilly has long made brain drugs a focus of its research, despite some high-profile setbacks and even as many of its peers <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/pharma-neuroscience-retreat-return-brain-drugs\/570250\/\">retreated from the field<\/a>. The Indianapolis company could soon <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/lilly-donanemab-fda-delay-alzheimers-drug-advisory-commitee-meeting\/709711\/\">win approval of a drug for Alzheimer\u2019s disease,<\/a> and has <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lilly.com\/discovery\/clinical-development-pipeline\">multiple other prospects<\/a> in clinical testing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p>The deal between QurAlis and Lilly is a reversal, of sorts, from an alliance the <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20200701005171\/en\/QurAlis-Announces-Agreement-to-Strengthen-ALS-Pipeline\">two forged in 2020<\/a>. In that partnership, QurAlis acquired a group of small molecule prospects for ALS and other brain diseases, one of which is in <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quralis.com\/news\/quralis-announces-first-in-human-dose-in-phase-1-clinical-trial-of-qrl-101-a-first-in-class-kv7-precision-therapy-for-als\/\">early human testing<\/a>. Now QurAlis is returning the favor, handing Lilly rights to an antisense oligonucleotide, or RNA-based, therapy for ALS.<\/p>\n<p>An estimated 30,000 people in the U.S. have ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive and fatal disease with no cure. While there are a handful available drugs that provide modest benefits, none can <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/als-drug-research-progress-genetic-clinical-trials\/611274\/\">halt or reverse the disease\u2019s course<\/a>, and <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/biogen-ionis-als-drug-discontinue-study-results\/716345\/\">many would-be medicines<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/apellis-als-pegcetacoplan-study-failure\/651257\/\">have<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/denali-als-drug-study-failure-sanofi\/707775\/\">fallen short<\/a> in clinical testing. One that did get to market last year, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals\u2019 Relyvrio, was <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/amylyx-als-withdraw-relyvrio-restructuring-layoffs\/712247\/\">withdrawn<\/a> after the <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/amylyx-als-drug-relyvrio-fails-phoenix\/709704\/\">failure of a confirmatory trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lilly and QurAlis are hoping for better luck with QRL-204. The drug is designed to correct the faulty transcription of a gene called UNC13A that&#8217;s frequently mutated in people with ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Preventing these errors via an antisense drug, QurAlis claims, can restore normal protein production and functioning of nerve cell junctions.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Andrew Adams, the head of Lilly\u2019s Institute for Genetic Medicine, said the approach holds promise \u201cfor delivering meaningful advances against a range of neurodegenerative diseases.\u201d In addition to advancing QRL-204, Lilly intends to work with QurAlis to identify other antisense oligonucleotides that target UNC13A.<\/p>\n<p>QurAlis has <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quralis.com\/pipeline\/\">three other programs<\/a> in development for ALS, frontotemporal dementia and primary lateral sclerosis, a slower moving neurological disease that affects the upper body. Two are now in clinical testing, including an RNA-based therapy targeting a different gene associated with ALS. QRL-204 was behind both.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to make sure that [QRL-204], which we are really excited about, gets the attention that it deserves,\u201d said Kasper Roet, QurAlis\u2019 CEO and co-founder.<\/p>\n<p>Funds from the Lilly deal, as well as a <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/quralis-closes-88-million-series-b-financing-to-advance-precision-medicines-for-neurodegenerative-diseases-301765435.html\">$88 million Series B round QurAlis raised in 2023<\/a>, are being used to back clinical trials for its two other programs and build staff, Roet said.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"plato-post-bottom-links\">\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-amplifi\">SEO Powered Content &amp; PR Distribution. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amplifipr.com\">Get Amplified Today.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platodata-network\">PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platodata.network\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platoaistream\">PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoaistream.com\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platoesg\">PlatoESG. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/carbon\/\">Carbon,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/cleantech\/\">CleanTech,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/energy\/\">Energy,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/environment\/\">Environment,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/solar\/\">Solar,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/waste-management\/\">Waste Management.<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platohealth\">PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. <a href=\"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-source\"><span>Source:<\/span> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/quralis-eli-lilly-als-drug-dementia-deal\/717585\/\">https:\/\/www.biopharmadive.com\/news\/quralis-eli-lilly-als-drug-dementia-deal\/717585\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dive Brief: QurAlis, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company developing drugs for neurodegenerative diseases, on Monday announced it has licensed an experimental medicine for ALS and frontotemporal dementia to Eli Lilly. Lilly will pay the startup $45 million upfront for rights to a therapy called QRL-204 and currently in preclinical development. Should the drug hit certain [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":2,"featured_media":604519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"acf":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":604518,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604516\/revisions\/604518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}