In an exclusive interview with The Fly, 180 Life Sciences (ATNF) CEO James Woody talked about the company, its pipeline, ongoing clinical trials, and much more. Here are some highlights:
FIBROSIS, ANTI-TNF: 180 Life Sciences' primary platform to treat fibrosis and inflammation using anti-TNF is currently in Phase 2b/3 clinical trials. "The company is using anti-TNF antibodies to treat some very novel and very unusual inflammatory conditions that our scientists have discovered we can utilize anti-TNFs for," CEO James Woody explained to The Fly. "They learned that there is a condition called Dupuytren's contracture and what happens in your hand is a nodule forms and over time it gradually pulls your fingers together until they are really contracted. […] We found that if you inject anti-TNF into this nodule early you can prevent the contractures from forming."
"We did a small trial to show how much we needed to give and then we did 180 patients in a Phase 2b/3 trial. All patients are enrolled, all being followed-up and we have about 2/3 of the data in. The other third is coming in but it's difficult because of COVID. In the U.K. where the trial is done, they are all locked down. The other part is done in the Netherlands and they are also locked down. It will take us a little longer to get the data," the executive added.
180 Life Sciences still expects to have all data from the clinical trials by mid-2021.
FROZEN SHOULDER TRIAL: The company's anti-TNF pipeline includes other clinical studies that are currently in a preclinical stage. Among the additional indications is the treatment of frozen shoulder, with a grant to initiate the clinical study awarded by the National Institute of Health Research in the U.K. "I talked to the principal investigator last week and things are coming along nicely. We are ready to start our second trial in the early part of next year," the CEO added.
SPAC MERGER: Earlier this month, 180 Life Sciences announced the completion of its merger with blank check company KBL Merger Corp. IV. "This company was complicated; it's made up of three other companies: one part is in Israel, another part in the U.K. and one part in California. We had to merge all of these together and it took a long time. It's been like a year and a half. I'm really happy it's over. I would have probably, had I been around at the time, favored a straightforward IPO," the executive explained.
'TAKES TIME TO GET WORD OUT': Noting that the company has only been public since November 9, James Woody acknowledged there hasn't been "a lot of time for analysts to come on board." "I think the most important points are that we have a phenomenal team of people, a very experienced, savvy group of people, and our projects are also quite unique, very novel and quite exciting. It just takes time to get the word out," he added.
"Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company. A more detailed version of this interview to follow.
For more on 180 Life Sciences' primary platform to treat fibrosis and inflammation using anti-TNF click here.
For more on 180 Life Sciences' frozen should trial click here.
For more on 180 Life Sciences' SPAC merger click here.
For more on 180 Life Sciences click here.
180 Life Sciences
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