HTG Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTGM) (HTG), a life science company advancing precision medicine through its innovative transcriptome-wide profiling technology, completed its planned milestones for the third quarter of 2022, further advancing its transcriptome-informed approach to drug design and discovery utilizing the company’s proprietary HTG EdgeSeq technology.
Significant milestone progress made during the period included the advancement of machine-learning components of the transcriptome-informed drug discovery and design platform and the continued generation of internal, proprietary data supporting the training set. Capital investments made during the period established internal cell culture capabilities allowing for flexibility and expansion of HTG’s cell-based test system models. For the company’s first therapeutic target, a series of chemical libraries were designed, with the most advanced library for this target having entered preclinical characterization, along with a series of data generated including measures of early efficacy in two different disease states.
“We have made significant strides during the third quarter, further advancing our transcriptome-informed drug discovery platform and solidifying our first planned targets utilizing HTG’s novel approach,” said Dr. Stephen Barat, Senior Vice President of Therapeutics at HTG. “We have made steady progress on this very important initiative throughout 2022 and expect to continue to advance and refine our most promising potential molecular candidates for measures of efficacy, safety and pharmaceutical considerations. We are optimistic that this continued advancement will result in the selection by the end of the year of at least one candidate molecule to enter preclinical development through potential licensing or partnering opportunities.”
A cornerstone of the Therapeutics business, the HTG Transcriptome Panel (HTP) was launched with commercial availability in August 2021. The HTP was designed to enable the assessment of approximately 20,000 mRNA targets using HTG’s EdgeSeq technology, a targeted RNA sequencing technology that couples a nuclease protection assay with next-generation sequencing for rapid and accurate RNA quantification. HTG EdgeSeq’s many advantages that make it attractive technology for applying transcriptomic profiling to drug discovery include a 96-well plate format, low sample input requirement, no RNA extraction, and rapid assay and analysis time. Further information regarding HTG’s transcriptome-informed drug design and discovery platform is included in the White Papers published by HTG earlier in the year, which can be found here.