Third Rock Ventures launches Pliant Therapeutics to develop therapies for fibrosis

The founders of include Pliant Therapeutics researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) who have discovered crucial insights into the biology behind fibrosis and

The researchers have also developed small molecule therapeutics to target the disease process.

Pliant’s approach will focus on the antagonism of cell- and tissue-specific TGF-ß signaling to reduce and potentially reverse the fibrotic effects of TGF-ß.

By targeting TGF-ß signaling in a tissue-specific manner through integrin inhibition, Pliant intends to modulate the fibrotic cascade, maximizing therapeutic effects and preventing adverse events.

The product engine of Pliant Therapeutics is capable of addressing the needs of several patients by targeting fibrosis in multiple organs and conditions.

Pliant will initially target idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease that currently affects about 200,000 people in the US.

The company’s lead programs for IPF include small molecule inhibitors modulating cell-specific integrins, which selectively block activation of TGF-ß, preventing, and possibly reversing, the growth of fibrotic tissue within the lung.

Pliant has signed a license agreement with UCSF to expand the technology. The company will explore clinical development candidates in the coming months and advance to IND-enabling trials in 2017.

The company is developing further fibrosis programs using small molecule inhibitors to avoid and possibly reverse pathologic fibrosis via novel mechanisms in multiple organs.