Gossamer Bio Inc.'s co-founder, president and chief operating officer, Sheila Gujrathi, told BioWorld that by signing a potential $420 million deal with Aerpio Pharmaceuticals Inc., her firm hopes to pursue "higher-hurdle endpoints of mucosal healing" in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and use Aerpio's hypoxia induced factor (HIF)-1 alpha stabilizer, AKB-4924, and related compounds to bring about longer-term remissions in such patients.