Small Molecules To Correct Disease: Sri Kosuri on The Long Run

Sri Kosuri is today’s guest on The Long Run.

Sri is the co-founder and CEO of Emeryville, California-based Octant Bio. The company is developing oral small molecule drugs that are designed to correct protein misfolding and mistrafficking. Quite a few rare diseases, cancers, and metabolic disorders are thought to be amenable to this strategy.

Sri Kosuri, co-founder and CEO, Octant Bio

Octant’s work starts with a platform designed to capture relevant information about these cell processes that go awry. But like any platform company, it needs to demonstrate its value in the form of new drug candidates.

Octant’s lead drug candidate is for rhodopsin-associated autosomal dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa. It’s caused by a gene mutation which causes misfolded proteins to accumulate in the retina. That leads to progressive vision loss over time. The Octant drug candidate, which entered its first clinical trial in March, is intended to help improve low-light vision and halt disease progression.

Sri has a wide range of experiences in academia and in industry. He and his colleagues are seeking to build on recent advances in technology to discover oral small molecules that not only make a big difference for patients, but which ought to be widely accessible to the vast majority of people in need.

The Long Run is sponsored by AlphaSense

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Now please enjoy this conversation with Sri Kosuri on The Long Run.