| |
Athenagen Acquires Osprey
Pharmaceutical Company- Adds Clinical-Stage Alzheimer's Drug
Candidate to its Pipeline
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA and PONTE VEDRA BEACH,
FL – APRIL 13, 2006
Athenagen, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical
company, announced today that it has acquired the assets of
Osprey Pharmaceutical Company, which include a lead clinical
compound targeting Alzheimer's disease, as well as a large
library of related analogs. The lead compound, GTS-21, is a
novel, orally active alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh)
receptor agonist that has demonstrated memory and cognition
enhancement activity in Phase I studies. The acquisition also
includes intellectual property, preclinical and clinical data,
and an active U.S. IND for GTS-21. Financial terms were not
disclosed.
Osprey's lead compound, GTS-21 (also known
as DMXBA), is unique in that it is a selective alpha-7 nicotinic
acetylcholine receptor agonist. GTS-21 has been studied in
four Phase I studies in healthy volunteers and one Phase I
study in schizophrenic patients. In all studies, the compound
was well tolerated. In a Phase I multi-dosing, double-blind,
placebo controlled study in healthy adults, cognitive enhancement
was seen across all doses, with a statistically significant
improvement in attention related and memory related tasks (Kitagawa
et al., Neuropsychopharmacology (2003) 28, 542-551). Athenagen
plans to initiate Phase II studies in patients with Alzheimer's
disease in early 2007.
"GTS-21 is an excellent addition to
our pipeline because it expands our nACh receptor- focused
clinical portfolio with an additional therapeutic indication
- Alzheimer's disease," stated W. Scott Harkonen, M.D.,
President and Chief Executive Officer. "Osprey's drug
discovery efforts in cognition and memory with the alpha-7
nACh receptor pathway in the brain complement Athenagen's scientific
work on the endothelial nACh receptor pathway for diseases
associated with angiogenesis. With our age-related macular
degeneration (AMD) program and wound healing programs advancing
to the clinic this year, and our first Alzheimer's Phase II
trials planned to start early next year, Athenagen expects
to have three Phase II programs underway in 2007."
The portfolio of compounds acquired by Athenagen
was originally licensed by Osprey from the University of Florida
in Gainesville. Osprey's technology is based on pioneering
work conducted by William R. Kem, Ph.D., Professor in the Department
of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Kem is an expert in identifying
compounds that bind to alpha-7 nACh receptors and was one of
the first to characterize the role of alpha-7 nACh receptors
in cognition and memory. The alpha-7 nACh receptor has been
shown to stimulate cognition without causing addiction or other
side effects associated with stimulation of other nACh receptors.
Athenagen will continue to work with Dr. Kem in developing
novel nACh receptor agonists and characterizing their uses.
"The portfolio of compounds developed
by Dr. Kem offer a number of additional opportunities for Athenagen," stated
John Cooke, M.D., Ph.D, co-founder of Athenagen and Chief Scientific
Officer. "We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to
combine his expertise in the nACh field with ours."
"Our drug discovery research group
is extremely pleased that Athenagen will be continuing to support
our ongoing efforts," commented Dr. Kem. "In addition
to Alzheimer's disease, there are several interesting therapeutic
applications that are being explored which further enhance
the drug discovery and development programs at Athenagen." |
|
| |
About Osprey
Pharmaceutical
Osprey Pharmaceutical Company, Ponte
Vedra Beach, Florida, was founded in 2003 by Stefan
Borg, a biotechnology veteran and entrepreneur, who
served as the company's President and CEO until his
sudden death in May 2005. The company planned to commercialize
the lead compound in Dr. Kem's portfolio and expand
on opportunities afforded by numerous other compounds
in the portfolio that it licensed from the University
of Florida in Gainesville. Mr. Borg had previously
started two biotechnology life science companies including
SunPharm Corporation (a public corporation now part
of Genzyme). Mr. Borg was succeeded by Paul Herron,
Osprey's Chief Financial Officer, as the interim President
and CEO. Mr. Herron had worked previously with Mr.
Borg as CFO of two other biotechnology companies, including
SunPharm.
About Athenagen
Athenagen, Inc., located in South San Francisco,
is engaged in the development of small-molecule drugs designed
to either inhibit or enhance angiogenesis, based on the discovery
of a new endothelial cell angiogenesis pathway, known as
the nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh) receptor pathway. Athenagen's
lead products are being developed as oral and topical compounds
to treat diseases caused by enhanced angiogenesis, such as
cancer and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well
as topical formulations to treat diseases caused by impaired
angiogenesis, such as non-healing wounds. Athenagen plans
to introduce two drug candidates into the clinic in 2006:
ATG002, a topical pro-angiogenesis compound for diabetic
foot ulcers and ATG003, a topical (eye drop) anti-angiogenesis
compound for neovascular AMD. In addition, Athenagen expects
to enter Phase II clinical trials with a third program, GTS-21,
for Alzheimer's disease in early 2007.
For more information: www.athenagen.com.
CONTACT:
W. Scott Harkonen, M.D.
President and CEO
(650) 869-7600
press@athenagen.com |
|
