Audacious start for La Jolla’s Calibr

Noted chemist and biotech entrepreneur Peter G. Schultz, He spoke Wednesday, Feb. 25, at a conference held by the life science trade group Biocom.

Peter G. Schultz, the noted chemist and biotech entrepreneur, sure doesn't think small. His new biomedical research institute in La Jolla, called Calibr, is researching CAR T cell therapy for cancer, drugs for multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, COPD, tuberculosis, and many other diseases. And he's only just getting started.

In a rare appearance before the public, Schultz showcased the drug research and preclinical activities at Calibr.

Among the projects now under way:

-- A novel twist on the CAR T cell cancer therapy, using "blank" T cells that can be flexibly programmed by drugs given in vivo

-- A two-in-one multiple sclerosis therapy aimed at both controlling the disease's abnormal immune response and repairing damaged nerves

-- Treating spinal muscular atrophy with a Calibr-discovered compound that increases gene expression of the needed protein

Schultz, a prominent faculty member of the Scripps Research Institute known for his role in founding San Diego area biotechs, discussed what he was up to Wednesday at a life science conference held by Biocom, the San Diego-based life science trade group.

Calibr, the California Institute for Biomedical Research, was founded in 2012 with up to $90 million from Merck. The drug giant gets an option to exclusively license small molecule or antibody therapeutics from Calibr; the institute gets a financial base as it expands. It's located in Torrey Pines Mesa next to Synthetic Genomics.

Calibr is located at 11119 N Torrey Pines Rd #100, La Jolla, 92037 / Google Maps

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Audacious start for La Jolla's Calibr