Many flavors to S1P

While this week's $7.2 billion acquisition by Celgene Corp. of Receptos Inc. and its Phase III S1PR1 modulator Ozanimod might reflect the target's potential in ulcerative colitis (UC) and multiple sclerosis (MS), a host of companies think the opportunities for S1P modulation go far beyond immune disorders. Preclinically, the challenge is to tease out the complex biology of the sphingolipid messenger and work out how to exploit its diverse effects for different indications.

"It's a really interesting target, because it has lots of interesting nuances and mechanisms of action that cause basic scientists and clinical developers to be interested in pursuing the S1P pathway for a lot of different clinical indications," said Roger Sabbadini, VP and founder of Lpath Inc...