Making waves in lipids: DS Biopharma

DS Biopharma is an Ireland-based biopharma drug discovery company aiming to tackle unmet medical needs with a forgotten type of therapy.

Set up in 2010, it addresses an area of drug development that has been neglected for several decades: lipids. “Lipid science has had very little follow-up from when it was popular in the 1980s. Unfortunately, nothing substantial emerged from that,” says John Climax, executive chairman and chief executive of DS. The trick, as he sees it, is to identify the right physiological lipids within the body, and turn them to a therapeutic advantage. Most development of this kind takes place using proteins and, as Dr Climax said, “there are not many lipid scientists out there.”

The company’s portfolio consists of three compounds currently under development: the oral and topical DS107 for atopic dermatitis, pruritus and other dermatological disorders, oral DS102 for anti-fibrosis, and oral and topical DS109 for diabetic neuropathy and acne and psoriasis. The company plans to add more bioactive lipids into the current portfolio in years to come.