Date Posted: 04 March 2010
Potentia Pharmaceuticals, a speciality biotechnology company focused on treatments for AMD, have announced a licensing and share purchase option agreement with Alcon, Inc (ACL:NYSE). The agreements provide a license from Potentia to Alcon Research Ltd for the development of "POT-4", Potentia's lead drug candidate for the treatment of age related macular degeneration. If specific development milestones are subsequently met, Alcon may then exercise an option to acquire the shares of Potentia.
AMD is one of the main causes of blindness in the elderly population of the developed world. Approximately 10% of AMD patients suffer the "wet" form of the disease characterised by pathological neovascularisation under the macula. The remaining 90% have the "dry" form which is associated with atrophic cell death in the central retina. According to the company POT-4 is a complement inhibitor discovered by Prof. John Lambris of the University of Pennsylvania. The drug is an analogue of the small cyclic synthetic peptide compstatin and represents the first complement inhibitor to enter human clinical trials for an ophthalmic indication. The experimental drug inhibits complement factor C3 and thereby interrupts the complement cascade. As is well established from publications over the past 5 years, complement activation can lead to local inflammation in the eye that is thought to play a pivotal role in the progression of AMD.
Potentia completed a Phase I trial of POT-4 in March 2009 which showed good tolerability and no drug-related side effects in patients with wet AMD. According to Prof. John Lambris a potential advantage of the drug could be "the intrinsic ability of POT-4 to form a drug deposit in the eye, leading to a sustained release of the compound, which might positively influence costs and patience compliance".
no comments posted
Your IP address: 38.107.191.81