clinical advisory board
Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology IBD Unit, Nancy University Hospital

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet is professor of medicine and head of the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) unit (Inserm U1256 NGERE) at the Nancy University Hospital in France. Upon receiving his medical degree and PhD, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the IBD Centre in Lille in 2007, before taking a research position at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, USA (2008–2009).

Professor Peyrin-Biroulet received a rising star award in 2008 from the United European Gastroenterology Federation (UEGF). He is President of the GETAID and Past-President of the SciCom of the French association of IBD patients (AFA). He is past-Chair of the IBD Committee of the French Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SFED) and Past-Chair of the Clinical Trials Task Force at IOIBD. He was member of the UEGF Scientific Committee (2011-14). He is the current President of the European Crohn’s & Colitis Organization (ECCO) and current scientific secretary of IOIBD. He was the coordinator for the development of the first Disability Index for IBD and of the treat to target (STRIDE) recommendations. He proposed the first definitions of early Crohn’s disease and of disease severity for IBD. He is co-founder of the Spectrum consortium and President of the ICARE project.

Author of more than 800 peer-reviewed articles and more than 200 non peer-reviewed articles, Professor Peyrin-Biroulet was an associate editor of Digestive Liver Diseases (2013-17), and is a member of the editorial board of Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Journal of Crohn’s and colitis, Expert Review of Clinical Immunology, and Gut. He is Associate Editor of Clinical Gastroenterology Hepatology since 2017. He also serves as a reviewer for several international journals and he is a staff contributor of the Selected Summary section of Gastroenterology. He joined the editorial team of the Cochrane Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Functional Bowel Disorders (IBD/FBD) Review Group in 2014. He served as Councillor to the Immunology, Microbiology and IBD section of the AGA Institute Council (2014-2016).

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Integrin Partnership: Janssen

Morphic entered a research partnership with Janssen in 2019 to discover inhibitors of undisclosed integrin targets. In 2021, this partnership was expanded to include an antibody activator of an integrin target, extending the application of Morphic’s knowledge of integrin biology into modalities beyond small molecules. The antibody activator program is the focus of our collaboration with Janssen today.

Undisclosed Targets

Morphic is leveraging the MInT Platform to discover therapeutically relevant small molecule inhibitors of targets across the integrin family to treat autoimmune diseases, cancer and fibrotic diseases.

Undisclosed Target for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Morphic is deploying the MInT Platform to create small molecule inhibitors of an undisclosed integrin target for evaluation as a potential treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PAH is a devastating, usually fatal disease characterized by elevated mean pressures in the pulmonary artery and associated with lung and heart dysfunction. Morphic’s PAH program is in preclinical development.

αvβ8

Morphic is developing small molecule inhibitors of the integrin αvβ8 through a combination immuno-oncology approach for the treatment of solid tumors as well as potential additional indications. αvβ8 is known to activate selective isoforms of TGF-β and Morphic has demonstrated that αvβ8 inhibition can potentiate immune checkpoint blockade and potentially drive responses in checkpoint refractory tumors. Morphic’s αvβ8 inhibitors are in preclinical development.

Next Gen α4β7 Inhibitors

Morphic is developing a family of next generation α4β7 small molecule inhibitors with enhanced attributes using the MInT Platform. These candidates have distinct chemical properties from our first-generation inhibitors with differentiated selectivity, potency, and pharmacokinetic profiles. Morphic’s next generation α4β7 inhibitors are currently in preclinical development.