Engineering hydrogels to enable the oral administration of peptide therapeutics (e.g., GLP-1 agonists)
Engineering hydrogels to enable the oral administration of peptide therapeutics (e.g., GLP-1 agonists)
Description
Puretech Ownership1
Stage of Development
Engineering hydrogels to enable the oral administration of peptide therapeutics (e.g., GLP-1 agonists)
73.8% Equity
PRECLINICAL
Description
Engineering hydrogels to enable the oral administration of peptide therapeutics (e.g., GLP-1 agonists)
Puretech Ownership1
73.8% Equity
Stage of Development
PRECLINICAL
1 As of June 30, 2023, PureTech’s percentage ownership of Entrega was approximately 73.8% on a diluted basis. This calculation includes outstanding shares, options, and warrants, but excludes unallocated shares authorized to be issued pursuant to equity incentive plans.

Engineering hydrogels to enable the oral administration of peptide therapeutics (e.g., GLP-1 agonists)

Entrega is focused on the oral administration of biologics, vaccines and other drugs that are otherwise not efficiently absorbed when taken orally. The vast majority of biologic drugs, including peptides, proteins and other macromolecules are currently administered by injection, which can present challenges for healthcare administration and compliance with treatment regimes. Entrega believes oral administration thus represents an ideal administration approach for this increasingly large class of therapies reshaping many areas of medicine, including the treatment of diabetes.

Entrega’s technology platform is an innovative approach to oral administration which uses a proprietary, customizable hydrogel dosage form to control local fluid microenvironments in the GI tract in an effort to both enhance absorption and reduce the variability of drug exposure. Peptide therapeutics (e.g., the emerging GLP-1 agonist class) are ideally suited to benefit from Entrega’s approach.
  • Program Discovery Process by the PureTech Team
    • We were interested in enabling the oral administration of biologics, which has been a long-standing problem in drug development. We engaged with leading experts in drug administration, including Robert Langer, Sc.D., and screened over 100 technologies and the initial platform was licensed from Samir Mitragotri, Ph.D., when he was Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara (currently Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University). We later enhanced this platform with intellectual property developed by our team.
    • Other scientific and business advisors include Colin Gardner, Ph.D., former Chief Scientific Officer of Transform Pharmaceuticals, former Senior Vice President of Research and Site Head at Johnson & Johnson and formerly Vice President of Pharmaceutical R&D at Merck & Co., Inc., or Merck, Rodney Pearlman, Ph.D., formerly Chief Executive Officer of Nuon Therapeutics, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saegis Pharmaceuticals and Director of Pharmaceutical R&D at Genentech, Robert Armstrong, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Pharmaceuticals and Mr. Howie Rosen, former President of ALZA.
  • Milestones Achieved & Developmental Status
Note: The management team of Entrega consists of PureTech employees, and a majority of the board of directors are PureTech designees. These PureTech employees actively manage the day-to-day business activities of Entrega and together with the board of directors of Entrega, which is controlled by PureTech, direct the strategy and decision making in connection with the clinical and regulatory development of Entrega’s therapeutic candidates. As a result, we exert substantial control over the clinical and regulatory development of Entrega’s therapeutic candidates. Additionally, Entrega’s lab and office space is shared with our lab and office space. Entrega is well-protected with a robust intellectual property portfolio. Entrega was incorporated in December 2010.
Entrega’s technology platform is an innovative approach to oral administration which uses a proprietary, customizable hydrogel dosage form to control local fluid microenvironments in the GI tract in an effort to both enhance absorption and reduce the variability of drug exposure. To validate its technology, Entrega generated preclinical proof-of-concept data demonstrating administration of therapeutic peptides into the bloodstream of large animals.