Ep#039: Using Protein Degraders to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases with Dr. Beth Hoffman

In this episode we dive deep again into the topic of protein degradation and how it can be leveraged to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Our guest today is Dr. Beth Hoffman, the founder, CEO and President to Origami Therapeutics. Beth's career is a showcase of remarkable success in the biotech industry. She spent almost 25 years working in CNS drug discovery and was involved in the development of over 30 therapeutic molecules. Most notably she led the discovery and development of a few first-in-class blockbuster drugs for cystic fibrosis at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Her most recent venture, Origami Therapeutics, is focusing on developing protein degraders aiming at neurodegenerative disorders and, specifically, Huntington’s Disease.

Together with Beth we discussed:
◦ The evolution of drug discovery & development over the last 30 years
◦ How protein degraders work
◦ Role of protein structure prediction algorithms in therapy design
◦ Possibility of using targeted protein degradation for treatment of Huntington’s diseases
◦ Differences between treating familial vs sporadic neurodegenerative disorders
◦ The future of personalized medicine
◦ Actionable advice for young biotech entrepreneurs

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com