Cincera Therapeutics Pty Ltd

Cincera Therapeutics has developed novel drug-like lead dihydroceramide desaturase (Des1) inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions associated with metabolic diseases.

Fibrosis is the accumulation of scar tissue in an organ following an injury or inflammatory insult. In fibrotic disease, this scarring process is excessive and unremitting, leading to organ failure. 

There are many conditions where fibrosis plays a major role in the end-stage of the disease and approximately 45% of diseased related death can be attributed to fibrosis. Currently, there is a lack of effective treatments for fibrotic disease and the failure rate of emerging therapies in clinical trials is very high. 

By adopting a new approach to targeting the molecular mechanisms of fibrosis, Cincera scientists have developed a new class of antifibrotic drug that address the limitations of other failed approaches. In this BTB supported project, Cincera will identify an optimized drug candidate to bring to clinical trials for obesity-associated liver fibrosis, known as NASH. NASH is a lead cause of liver failure and liver cancer and a key contributor to other diseases such as heart failure and type-2-diabetes.


BTB Round: Two

State: Victoria and South Australia

Project Partners: Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), University of South Australia (Adelaide, Australia), Melbourne University (Melbourne, Australia), Centenary Institute (Sydney, Australia), TetraQ (Brisbane, Australia), Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai (New York, USA), HD Biosciences (Shanghai, China).

Funding:

  • MTPConnect Grant: $1,225,000
  • Industry Contribution: $2,389,321

Duration: July 2020 – September 2021


Visit Cincera Therapeutics to learn more  |  Twitter: @CinceraTx  | LinkedIn: Cincera Therapeutics Pty Ltd

Contact: A/Prof Bernard Flynn