CalciMedica Inc. is carving out a niche in the autoimmune and inflammatory field by focusing on calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels, which are critical to the release of interleukin-2, TNF-alpha and other cytokines involved in the immune response.

Back in 2005, scientists at TorreyPines Therapeutics Inc. pinpointed the STIM1 gene as a key connection between the release of stored calcium and the activation of CRAC channels. Not long afterward, scientists at Harvard Medical School's CBR Institute for Biomedical Research Inc. (CBRI) discovered a CRAC channel called Orai1, which is believed to work with STIM1 as a gatekeeper of the Icrac pathway and be a valid drug target for immunosuppression.

But the inflammatory disease implications of STIM1 and CRAC channels fell outside of TorreyPines' focus on the central nervous system. "We just weren't using the IP," said Neil Kurtz, president and CEO of TorreyPines.

TorreyPines' vice president of research and drug discovery, Gonul Velicelebi, approached Kurtz about founding a company around the STIM1 program. Kurtz liked the idea of "creating value for investors" by selling off noncore assets.

In late 2006, Velicelebi obtained seed funding from SR One, and CalciMedica was born. On Monday, the La Jolla, Calif.-based start-up announced it licensed both the STIM1 program from TorreyPines and the Orai1 program from CBRI.

From TorreyPines, CalciMedica gets several preclinical small-molecule CRAC channel inhibitors, intellectual property and specialized equipment in exchange for equity and potential future fees, milestone payments and royalties. From CBRI, CalciMedica acquired exclusive rights to Orai1. Specific financial terms were not disclosed for either deal.

Over the next 12 months, Velicelebi - now president and CEO of CalciMedica - said her team will focus on advancing the licensed preclinical compounds toward the clinic and conducting additional discovery work to identify novel scaffolds. While work in the area previously was complicated by the fact that CRAC channels have very small signals, CalciMedica will use its intellectual property and expertise to engineer cells that express STIM1 and Orai1 at higher levels.

The exact timeline of moving into the clinic will "depend on financings," Velicelebi said, adding that the company is "working on a Series A now."

Velicelebi also may expand her three-person team, which currently consists of two other ex-TorreyPines scientists. She described CalciMedica's business model as a "hybrid" in which core calcium channel biology and chemistry work will be done in house while "commodity services" may be contracted out.

In addition to integrating its newly acquired assets, CalciMedica is keeping busy talking to autoimmune and inflammation experts to prioritize the applications of its technology.

The company is looking both at "big ones like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease" and at the indications with a smaller patient population but a significant unmet need, Velicelebi said.

CalciMedica is one of the only companies exploring CRAC channel inhibitors against autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., which priced a $50 million initial public offering earlier this year, has a preclinical CRAC-inhibitor program, but Velicelebi said she is not aware of any other companies working in the space. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 7, 2007.)