SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwired – March 30, 2017) – DURECT Corp. (NASDAQ: DRRX) has a pipeline of drugs for a wide range of indications, from NASH to psoriasis to postoperative pain. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Dr. James Brown, DURECT’s President and CEO, discusses the potentially groundbreaking epigenetic regulator DUR-928, POSIMIR’s late-stage testing for postoperative pain and an abuse-deterrent oral technology.
Included in this article is: DURECT Corp.
The Life Sciences Report: DURECT Corp.’s DUR-928 is an epigenetic regulator that may have applications for metabolic disorders such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH), acute organ injury and inflammatory conditions. Can you describe in layman’s terms what an epigenetic regulator is and how it works?
James Brown: When you use the term epigenetic, epi means it’s on top of genetics. Basically, if we look at how genes are expressed within the body, there are regulating proteins that sit on top of our DNA and allow those to be read. If you think back to the days of tape cassettes — they even call them cassettes actually — what happens is there’s a protein that slides along the DNA and allows for a certain amount of the DNA to be read. Then the proteins based on that DNA can be made. The cells can have those changes from those genes expressed.
The proteins that allow the gene cassettes to be read are known as nuclear receptors. They influence the way nuclear receptors are modulated. DUR-928 binds to and influences those proteins that then influence the nuclear receptors that allow the genes to be read. So it’s a double-layer system.
TLSR: Is that why the platform works for so many conditions that don’t seem to have much in common?
JB: Yes, and it is unusual. We work with more than 20 well-known and well-respected doctors who are specialists in different kinds of liver or kidney disease, from the United States and internationally. They all come back to that same thing: DUR-928 appears to be a new class of stress hormones that influences how cells respond to stress.
They liken the discovery of DUR-928 and its family of molecules to the discovery of corticosteroids back in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Steroids can treat anything from poison oak or ivy to leukemia to arthritis.
With DUR-928 we do see that breadth of activity. We’re treating liver disease. We’re looking at the possibility for kidney disease. We’re looking at it for skin conditions, such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.
Continue reading this interview: Many Paths to Success with DURECT’s Pipeline
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DISCLOSURE:
DURECT Corp. is a sponsor of Streetwise Reports. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. DURECT Corp. had final approval of the content and is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Opinions expressed are the opinions of James Brown and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. James Brown: I was not paid by Streetwise Reports to participate in this interview. I had the opportunity to review the interview for accuracy as of the date of the interview and am responsible for the content of the interview. I or my family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: DURECT Corp.
The full disclosure is provided at the end of the published interview: Many Paths to Success with DURECT’s Pipeline
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