Galectin Therapeutics and SBH Sciences have jointly established Galectin Sciences, LLC, a collaborative venture to research and develop small organic molecule inhibitors of galectin-3 for oral administration.
 
SBH Sciences recently identified several molecules with promising galectin-3 inhibitory activity in vitro. Galectins are markedly increased in a number of diseases, including scarring of organs and many cancers. Galectin Sciences will collaborate on further development of these organic molecule galectin-3 inhibitors as drug candidates, as well as the discovery of additional candidates. Galectin will apply its knowledge and expertise of galectins’ role and mechanism of action in inflammation, fibrosis and many cancers. The long-term goal is to identify and develop drug candidates that may be formulated for oral administration. 
 
Dr. Raphael Nir, president and chief science officer, SBH Sciences, said, “We are excited and honored to partner with Galectin Therapeutics, a company that we have provided services for more than 10 years. This unique moment is a transformational point for SBH Sciences and represents the shift in our business model from service provider to biotechnology company. I am confident that the mutual trust and the dedication of the two teams, combined with the vast expertise that has been built by SBH Sciences over the past 16 years, will enable us to potentially bring new galectin inhibitors into clinical development and human clinical trials.”
 
“The formation of Galectin Sciences represents a significant step forward in the research of galectin proteins and demonstrates both companies’ confidence in galectin inhibitors as potential treatment options for diseases with large unmet medical need,” said Dr. Peter G. Traber, president, chief executive officer and chief medical officer, Galectin Therapeutics. “Increased levels of galectin proteins have been implicated in a very large number of inflammatory, fibrotic and neoplastic diseases; the discovery and development of orally active galectin inhibitors would be a major step towards expanded treatment approaches for these disorders. This work may lead to drugs that would expand our pipeline as follow on compounds to our first-in-class galectin inhibitors, GR-MD-02 and GM-CT-01, which are currently in clinical trials.”