Xconomy: Omeros Banks on First FDA Filing Next Year, Plans to "Unlock" Inaccessible Drug Targets
Summary
They are complex spaghetti-like protein receptors that weave in and out of the surface of cells, and which are the targets of an estimated 30 to 40 percent of all marketed pharmaceuticals, including best-sellers for depression, allergies, and high blood pressure.Many such GPCRs are “undruggable” because scientists haven’t been able to identify a naturally occurring or synthetic molecule, called a ligand, that binds with the receptor.Even though Omeros just raised a lot of money in its IPO, it apparently didn’t want to quickly fork over a big chunk of this to its collaborator, at least not right away.The company can defer the rest until it forms a collaboration with a bigger drugmaker with the money and manpower to pursue the other GPCR targets, he says.While that search continues, the company is defending itself in a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by former CFO Richard Klein, who says he was fired after he made a whistleblower complaint.