Jim Cole’s journey to academia is surprising – as a former scientist at Merck, Cole has a unique perspective on the drug discovery process. Jim Cole is Professor at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Department of Chemistry. “When I went from Big Pharma to an academic position, I realized that in many ways I was on my own. Faculty members are much more independent than scientists working in a Big Pharma environment. As academics we are like small businesses with our own research projects and the responsibility for generating our own funding. While Universities provide many important resources, the support facilities for translational research are often lacking. That is why PITCH is so essential for the work that we are doing.” Funding aside, PITCH is shaping the way the Cole lab is developing a novel antiviral drug.
The development of antiviral drugs has historically taken decades to develop – it takes a great deal of effort to develop a new drug for each virus and viruses quickly develop resistance. The Cole lab is taking a novel approach – instead of targeting the virus, they are targeting the host in their quest to develop a drug to treat the flu. The idea is to turn on a particular pathway in the innate immunity system that will enhance our ability to fight viral infections. Cole and his lab are targeting the flu because of the importance of flu as a seasonal disease and the risk of pandemic flu which would have a significant public health impact.
Being able to treat the flu would be a major advantage over the current drugs on the market which are not very effective. Cole’s lab has identified a specific target in the innate immunity pathway. With over a decade of experience, they are developing molecules that would turn on the enzyme to activate the immune response. Cole explains, “With PITCH we began to screen for small molecules that would function as activators. We screened over 100,000 compounds through the program and that was the key to moving this project forward … out of the 100,000 we uncovered several molecules that turn on the enzyme.”
Through PITCH, Jim Cole was also able to create a company (Emphutos Therapeutics) with the goal of moving this project forward by attracting grants and investor support. PITCH recently assisted Cole with the writing and submission of a US Government small business grant to obtain funding for the next stage of Cole’s novel antiviral drug project. As Cole explains, “PITCH made creating the company so easy for us. There are so many ways that being a part of PITCH is helping us bridge the ‘valley of death.’* The range of disciplines required to translate basic research into therapeutically useful science is very large and it is often difficult for academics to set up those teams on their own. We’ve had access to people at PITCH who have a range of different scientific skills not represented in my department or even on my campus.” PITCH has also connected Cole to a universe of opportunities at his home institution UConn. He recently secured space in the technology incubator program at UConn – designed to spur company growth for faculty-initiated companies. Additionally, PITCH helped catalyze Cole’s connection with the tech transfer groups at UConn who introduced him to the now CEO of his company. For Cole, PITCH has been an essential “connector and convener” to broaden the reach of his work.
*The ‘valley of death’ describes a developmental stage during the maturation of an idea into a revenue-generating product or service, a stage very difficult to fund.
** Photo by Stephanie Anestis