Gubra A/S announced updates to its R&D pipeline of internal and partnered projects. Most notably is the addition of a new CNS (orexin) peptide drug discovery project, now ready for partnering. The aim of the project is to develop an efficacious and safe peptide-based treatment for narcolepsy type 1. Gubra has developed a broad series of orexin peptides with very promising effects in animal models of narcolepsy which spurred the decision to advance the project into their R&D pipeline.

The orexin peptide drug discovery project, that gains access to brain orexin receptors after a subcutaneous injection, has grown out of Gubra's own streaMLine platform for rapid peptide drug discovery. Orexin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep-wake cycles. Certain sleeping disorders, such as narcolepsy type 1 (narcolepsy with cataplexy), are debilitating diseases with severe consequences for the quality of life of patients and their relatives.

They are believed to be caused by the loss of a group of neurons deep in the brain producing orexin peptides. Narcolepsy type 1 is a rare chronic neurological disorder with a prevalence of 25-50 per 100,000.