About us
Sulfiscon
SULFISCON was founded in 2017 by three researchers in the Service of Rheumatology, CHUV in Lausanne, in order to develop new drugs to treat pathological calcification disorders. The basic research that led to its creation was initially supported by the Swiss National Research Foundation and more recently, SULFISCON has received support from Innosuisse.
The three founders are active researchers on the mechanisms of crystal induced musculoskeletal diseases and their treatments and have published their findings internationally.
The company is currently expanding on research performed by the founders of the company, where a new paradigm of pathological calcification was discovered.
CSE allosteric modulation
Allosteric modulation represents a novel approach to increase natural H2S production by the tissues own biochemical machinery. It avoids the problems of administrating donor molecules which can affect all tissues which the drug penetrate. As H2S is expressed in selective organs and cell types, this allows us to target the treatment to tissues that require more H2S.
Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) are substances that bind to a receptor or enzyme to increase agonist affinity and/or efficacy. Clinical examples are benzodiazepines, which modulate GABAA-receptors, and cinacalcet, which modulates calcium-sensing receptors
Our vision
In collaboration with Prof Rainer Riedl of ZHAW, we intend to pursue a hit to lead program to develop novel CSE PAMs for clinical use. Key scientific collaborations have been established with partners to develop medicinal chemistry, clinical testing and biological assessments of the lead compounds that will come out from the hit-to-lead program. This will take place from 2021-2023. Beyond 2023, we project to start phase I studies in man and develop phase 2 clinical trials by 2025.
Where we are
SULFISCON is well situated as a start up within the biopharmaceutical ecosystem of the Lake Geneva Health Valley. Close ties with the University of Lausanne and the University Medical Centre (the CHUV) has facilitated collaborations that are needed to develop the project so far, and we intend to extend our collaborations with other academic institutions within Switzerland (the ZHAW in Wädenswil, the University Hospital of Zurich) as well as academic centres outside Switzerland to bring these ideas to market.
Since April 2023, SULFISCON has taken up lab space in the STARTLAB, rue de la Corniche 5, Batmen Alanine, 1066 Epalinges. This will facilitate our implantation within the biomedical startup ecosystem in Switzerland