Integrins go oral

Morphic Therapeutic Inc. is combining an understanding of the structural biology of integrins with computational chemistry to solve the problems that have prevented development of oral integrin inhibitors. The company is initially developing candidates for irritable bowel disease and fibrosis.

Six injectable integrin drugs are approved to treat autoimmune and cardiovascular indications. But development of oral integrin inhibitors has been stymied by safety issues and a lack of efficacy...