IHP: Creating an EpiPen for sickle cell disease

IHP Therapeutics believes its self-administered rescue treatment will be powerful enough to halt painful VOCs in sickle cell disease patients based on its dual mechanism of action. The company has raised $15 million in seed and grant funding, and has launched a $35 million series A. 

CEO Rinko Ghosh told BioCentury that IHP Therapeutics Inc. began with a heparin-based treatment for COVID-19, then pivoted to sickle cell disease. Heparin, a sulfated polysaccharide, is a multi-functional molecule, with its anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties forming much of the basis of its development in COVID-19. As the pandemic waned, Ghosh said IHP saw an opportunity instead to tune heparin’s properties specifically for sickle cell disease. ...