Featuring Ronald Martell, CEO of Jasper Therapeutics
Published July 11, 2024 | 2 min read
Key Points
- Jasper Therapeutics’ novel antibody therapy is being trialled for multiple applications.
- Communicating clear drug development goals can secure more active engagement from investigators and patients.
- AI could help design faster and more cost-effective clinical trials.
- Tools such as CRISPR, and continued investor commitment, put the sector on a sound footing for further breakthroughs.
A portfolio within a product
“You know you’re getting into the deep end of the pool in medicine when it takes you a long time to explain how your drug works,” observes Ronald Martell. The CEO of Jasper Therapeutics sees himself as fortunate in this respect. He likens his company’s antibody therapy, briquilimab (‘briq’), to a car key.
Briq is designed to target a receptor on the surface of mast cells and stem cells. By mimicking a natural molecule that normally binds to this receptor, briq “turns the engine off”, Martell explains.
He believes antibodies have a critical advantage over small molecules, in being less likely to generate unwanted side-effects.
Jasper holds full worldwide rights for briq’s development and commercialization. It has seven clinical trials in progress, including applications for stem cell transplant conditioning, severe combined immunodeficiency, and Fanconi anemia. Studies are also planned or under way in treatment of urticarias and asthma. “Briquilimab is really the definition of a portfolio within a product,” Martell says.
“Briquilimab is really the definition of a portfolio within a product.”
Ronald Martell, CEO, Jasper Therapeutics
Clearer stories earn engagement
While the briq concept might be relatively easy to grasp, Martell believes the industry as a whole should improve the way it communicates its drug development goals. Being able to tell a clear story is critical, he says, not least because investigators need to be comfortable about the concept of a trial in order to convince patients to take part.
“Where we need to get better as an industry is making certain that we can do not just what we have to do, which is gaining informed consent, but really explaining why we’re doing this clinical trial – what this drug might do – to enhance involvement,” he says.
AI can make trials more efficient
Meanwhile, Martell sees potential for a breakthrough in the process of conducting trials. While artificial intelligence has many potential clinical applications, he points to its ability to design better trials, by helping to identify the patients most likely to respond to a drug.
“Drug development could probably happen faster – we could also probably eliminate drugs faster,” he says. “It’s better for patients, so they don’t go on trials where they may not have a benefit at all. “And ultimately, for the industry, there should be significant cost savings, because we’re not running larger clinical trials for longer.”
Tools and capital in place for success
Martell is a veteran biopharma executive and serial entrepreneur, having founded five companies. One of his notable roles was as program lead on Herceptin, the first targeted drug in oncology, when he worked at Genentech.
Reflecting on the tools developed since then, such as CRISPR, he is excited about the potential to design drugs more effectively. “The caution is that we don’t get too enamoured with those tools and lose focus – tinkering, instead of getting to the work of drug development,” he says.
He is reassured that the sector can still count on capital: “In spite of the market over the last couple of years, there’s still very robust support from the investment community in this space.”
“There’s still very robust support from the investment community in this space.”
Ronald Martell, CEO, Jasper Therapeutics
Featured Guest:
Ronald Martell
CEO of Jasper Therapeutics