Paul Shapiro, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical sciences (PSC) at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, is partnering with Gen1E Lifesciences, a next-generation multitarget techbio company, to use Shapiro’s biotechnology to investigate treatment for a variety of diseases.
Shapiro and colleagues Alexander MacKerell, PhD, Grollman-Glick Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and director of the Computer-Aided Drug Design Center, and Steven Fletcher, PhD, associate professor of PSC, have discovered and patented chemical compounds known as next-generation Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling modulators. Licensed through UM Ventures, Gen1E Lifesciences plans to use the compounds to advance its portfolio of novel immunomodulators for rare and inflammatory diseases for patients with unmet needs in the areas of pulmonary, oncology, and muscle degenerative diseases.