Trevena’s biased ligands selectively turn on and off individual pathways at the GPCR, and in doing so provide an enhanced level of drug specificity. The specificity allows enhanced efficacy or decreased side effects to be designed into the drug candidate.
Yves Ribeill, president and CEO of Scynexis, said: “Scynexis has a history of successful collaboration with Trevena and we are pleased to undertake this new project with them and their innovative approach to GPCR technology.”
Maxine Gowen, CEO of Trevena, said: “Our early discovery efforts have been so productive that we require additional chemistry resources to fully optimize the portfolio of biased leads we have discovered. Scynexis is ideally suited to provide that capability.”
Trevena has also recently initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial with TRV120027, an agent that could provide a major advance in the treatment of acute heart failure, due to its spectrum of biological effects. TRV120027 is the first biased ligand to be discovered and tested in humans.