Liminal BioSciences provides R&D update

LAVAL — Liminal BioSciences has nominated a lead preclinical candidate, LMNL6326, for the development of its OXER1 antagonist program, targeting the treatment of eosinophil-driven diseases.

“We are pleased to be nominating LMNL6326 as our second preclinical candidate of 2023, strengthening our development pipeline and validating our G protein-coupled receptor drug discovery engine,” said Bruce Pritchard, Chief Executive Officer, Liminal BioSciences. “We are excited to be working on an antagonist for the OXER1 receptor, providing a significant opportunity in a large and growing global eosinophil-driven diseases market. We hope that LMNL6326 could be a potential product candidate for the treatment of eosinophil-driven diseases which may include eosinophilic asthma and atopic dermatitis.”

Eosinophil-driven diseases (EDD) such as eosinophilic asthma and atopic dermatitis represent a significant area of unmet need in global health. According to the World Health Organisation, globally, asthma, including eosinophilic and severe asthma, affected an estimated 262 million people in 2019 and caused 455,000 deaths.

Market Watch Research has estimated that the global eosinophilic and severe asthma markets are expected to reach USD $127 million by 2029. Published research has estimated the prevalence of atopic dermatitis to be 15-20 per cent in children and 1-3 per cent in adults, and the incidence has increased by 2 to 3-fold during the past decades in industrialized countries.

Based on data from Future Market Insights, it is expected that the growing global atopic dermatitis market may reach USD $7.6 billion by 2029. The proposed indication area for our OXER1 antagonist program has not been finalised.