Holoclara has developed a unique discovery engine for identifying molecules derived from worm species to develop into safe, orally available therapeutics. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Holoclara co-founder and CEO Andrea Choe, MD, PhD, to learn more about the company.
Dr. Andrea Choe’s Background
What is Dr. Andrea Choe’s background? Dr. Choe said:
“I am a physician-scientist and the co-founder and CEO of Holoclara. My mission from day one has been to bring cures to patients.”
“As a medical student at the University of Southern California (USC), I treated countless patients with Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and other debilitating diseases. Meeting these patients who continued to suffer with no cure in sight, I realized that medicine lacked the tools to address these debilitating diseases.”
“But could we trace a solution back to nature? This thought inspired me to bring these problems to my PhD research at Caltech, where I discovered a language shared by worms that held incredible therapeutic potential and later founded Holoclara to turn it into medicines that could treat patients with life-altering allergies and autoimmune disorders.”
Formation Of Holoclara
How did the idea for the company come together? Dr. Choe shared:
“During my doctoral work, I discovered that worm species that evolved across the last 500 million years have a shared molecular language. Furthermore, these worms secreted powerful immune modulatory compounds that could block the formation of disease. I had a eureka moment, realizing that worms could be the missing piece to curing millions of patients around the world.”
“Based on this research, my co-founders, Paul Sternberg of Caltech and Frank Schroeder of Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University, and I started Holoclara to bring this breakthrough science to patients.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Dr. Choe reflected:
“An especially powerful moment was meeting a patient’s mother who told me her story about how worms helped treat her son’s disease. She shared that the disease was so severe that she spent countless days on the bathroom floor trying to comfort her child. When nothing else worked, she finally found a clinic that was able to treat her son with worms and now he has been in remission for many years. Her story continues to resonate with me today, as a mother myself who would go to the ends of the earth to help my child. At one point during our conversation, her child walked in front of her laptop and said ‘Oh, you’re the worm scientist!’ and I could see with my own eyes that he was thriving. It was a memorable moment I will never forget.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Dr. Choe explained:
“At Holoclara, we are pioneering the development of safe, orally available worm-derived therapies for allergies and autoimmune disorders. We are mining worm molecules, a previously unexplored vein, for the potential to create therapies for chronic inflammatory conditions that work with the immune system rather than against it.”
“Our technology is a discovery engine that isolates and identifies therapeutic molecules from worms, which we then can replicate to develop safe and orally available medicines. We’re excited to take our first therapies into clinical trials later this year.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Dr. Choe and the team face in building the company? Dr. Choe acknowledged:
“This is a new frontier for biology and medicine that requires educating the community as we move closer towards the clinic. Currently some may hear ‘worm-derived therapies’ and question why we would want to bring worms back into the human body. Weren’t they removed to improve our health?”
“In fact, worms have tremendous therapeutic potential but it is still a relatively unknown concept to the broader public and patient communities. They may have only heard about individuals who attempted to directly ingest worms to treat their conditions, which comes with safety and regulatory concerns, even though there are decades of scientific research that have pointed to this potential, as have my own studies and that of other leading worm scientists at Holoclara.”
“Separating the myth about worms from reality will be critical as we bring our first-in-class therapeutics to clinical trials — I’m committed to being transparent about our work and spreading the word about the role worms could play in helping us treat, prevent, or even cure some of the most devastating diseases we have today.”
Evolution Of Holoclara’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Dr. Choe noted:
“I’m proud of the progress our team has made towards bringing worm-derived therapies to patients as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our R&D team continues to advance our core technologies for discovering promising molecules and leveraging the potential of worms to treat hundreds of diseases.”
“We have also formed a pre-clinical and clinical team and developed a significant IP portfolio around the utility of our lead molecule to allow for expansion into multiple indications, such that we can truly make as broad an impact as possible straight out of the gates.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Dr. Choe cited:
“We recently completed a $16 million Series A financing to advance our worm-derived therapies as well as our discovery engine. We also announced our plans to take our first therapies into the clinic later this year.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Dr. Choe affirmed:
“With our world-class team, leading investors, and counterculture approach, Holoclara is uniquely positioned as the first company turning this science into treatments.”
“On our team are renowned experts in worm biology and biotechnology, including my co-founders Paul Sternberg and Frank Schroeder, Peter Hutt and Neal Bhadkamkar on our Board of Directors, Rick Maizels, Brian Stoltz, Stan Lapidus, and Carl LeBel. These leaders have pioneered breakthrough research in this field and other spheres of science and healthcare, enabling our company to take this science out of the lab and into the clinic as therapies that could be new solutions for patients living with these historically untreatable diseases.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Dr. Choe concluded:
“Later this year, we plan to bring our therapeutics into the clinic to demonstrate the safety and tolerability of our first clinical asset.”
“Following this, we plan to move towards patient-centered clinical trials and FDA approval in order to serve the unmet needs of millions of people suffering from these chronic diseases.”
