Drug Target Review’s Hannah Balfour spoke with Dr Nicolas Poirier, the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of OSE Immunotherapeutics, to understand their novel approach to targeting and treating autoimmune diseases; using immunology to rebalance the immune system.

Park Slope resident Zach Becker loves “Star Wars” and superheroes just like any other nine-year old. However, for much of his young life, Zach has been living with a rare and incurable disease that has kept him in and out of hospitals.

Drug Target Review spoke with CUE Biopharma’s President and CSO to find out how and why they created the ImmunoSTAT platform and the ways it may benefit drug design in the future.

RNA interference (RNAi), sometimes called gene silencing, is an approach to therapeutics in certain diseases that are caused by the production of abnormal proteins or an overproduction of proteins, which can be treated by turning off or silencing the gene. One of the companies working on the cutting edge of this field is Pasadena, California-based Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, which is expecting 2020 to be a real inflection point.

The first wave of a new class of anti-aging drugs have begun human testing. These drugs won’t let you live longer (yet) but aim to treat specific ailments by slowing or reversing a fundamental process of aging. The drugs are called senolytics—they work by removing certain cells that accumulate as we age.

Rezafungin is a novel molecule in the echinocandin class of antifungals, which its developer Cidara believes will be an improvement among current fungal infections treatments. Rezafungin is being developed as a first-line treatment of candidemia and invasive candidiasis.

Zach, his family and other people suffering from rare diseases will be guests of honor at an event commemorating Rare Disease Day on Leap Day – the rarest day of the year – at Carnegie Hall. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company that researches genetic solutions for diseases like Zach’s, is organizing the event for the second year.