Amaro Therapeutics, Inc.
Who We Are
Amaro Therapeutics is an early-stage platform company focused on the development of small molecule agonists targeting extra-oral bitter taste receptors to treat diseases of aging, specifically those diseases driven by metabolic and inflammatory processes.
Bitter taste receptors (TAS2R) are chemosensory GPCRs. These receptors are not confined to the tongue, instead they are expressed in all tissues as well as certain cells including cancer, immune, and senescent cells. TAS2R play a role in multiple biological processes including, but not limited to regulation of gut hormones that control appetite, activation of innate immune response in the nasal and lung epithelium, and regulation of smooth muscle contraction and relaxing in the heart, uterus and upper respiratory tract.
Discovery Platform
Amaro’s drug development effort is driven by its unique TAS2R Discovery Platform. Amaro has built proprietary computational models of all 25 known human bitter taste receptors. We are currently using the models to conduct in silico screening to identify small molecule scaffolds targeting TAS2R1 and TAS2R14. We plan to expand the platform with an AI/ML-driven knowledge network to: (1) identify, mechanistically, how each receptor elicits its immuno-metabolic response on a tissue-by-tissue basis; and (2) determine in which diseases modulation of the TAS2R system will result in a treatment or reversal of the pathology.
The discovery platform is expected to be a key value driver for the company as a means of identifying targets and indications for its internal pipeline and, moreover, as a means of generating non-dilutive capital through research and development collaborations outside the pharmaceutical sector.
Amaro is working with thought leaders in the fields of immunology, anti-aging, metabolic disease and chemosensory science to develop TAS2R-based therapeutics.
