novel oral α4β7 integrin inhibitor

The novel oral α4β7 integrin inhibitor is a preclinical-stage small molecule program being developed by Evotec for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The α4β7 integrin is a cell-adhesion receptor expressed on the surface of lymphocytes that mediates their homing to the gastrointestinal tract by binding to mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1) on the gut endothelium. In IBD, pathogenic infiltration of α4β7-positive T cells drives chronic intestinal inflammation. By selectively blocking the α4β7 integrin, this oral small molecule prevents lymphocyte trafficking to the gut mucosa, thereby reducing inflammation. Evotec leveraged its AI/ML-driven drug discovery platform to accelerate the design and optimization of these compounds, achieving high potency and selectivity for α4β7 over α4β1 in preclinical models.

Other names

oral α4β7 inhibitorsoral α4β7 integrin inhibitorsα4β7 antagonist(Evotec)