PSCH - EXCLUSIVE: Coya Therapeutics Focused On Neurodegenerative Diseases Has Gained 70% Since IPO; CEO Highlights Efforts On Combination Therapy For Rare Diseases | Benzinga
Coya Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:COYA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments focused on regulatory T cells (Tregs) to target systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation.
Since its IPO in December 2022, Coya shares have surged around 70%, significantly outperforming the Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF (NASDAQ:PSCH).
Howard Berman, Chairman and CEO of Coya Therapeutics, sat down with Benzinga this week to share updates on his company’s projects and insights into the industry. Berman had also appeared on Benzinga’s All Access in February.
In the Q&A session, Berman pointed out that many biotech companies concentrate on a single neurodegenerative disease, target, mechanism, or drug, suggesting that a more comprehensive approach might be more effective.
“We believe the traditional ‘one disease – one target – one drug’ approach might not be the most appropriate framework for neurodegenerative disorders and may be partly responsible for the lack of available and truly effective treatments,” Berman said.
He noted that the company is moving into the combination approaches and biologics regime, just like the general biotech market has done in cancer, HIV, and viral disease treatment.
Here’s a summary of the Q&A:
Benzinga: Coya Therapeutics is working on therapies for neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases. What are the particular problems the company aims at, and how do you think it is committed to transformation?
Berman: “We are developing an innovative therapeutic platform which has the potential to transform the treatment of neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases…Further, numerous investigations have determined the key role of Tregs in autoimmune conditions.”
“Our mission is to restore the immune balance by enhancing Treg function, resulting ...