biotech news AtheroNova Gets Notice of Issuance of its 2 nd US Patent 8,697,633 AtheroNova Inc, a biotech company focused on the research and development of compounds to safely regress atherosclerotic plaque and improve lipid profiles in humans, has received a Notice of Issuance for an additional compound for cardiovascular treatments. This patent Thomas W Gardner, CEO issuance further exemplifies the AtheroNova Company’s plan to develop a broad platform of intellectual property involving atheroma stabilisation and reduction, lipid modulation and other metabolic diseases. This issuance continues efforts by the Company and its patent counsel in pursuit of numerous patents covering the systemic delivery of naturally occurring bile acids, bile acid synthetics, analogs and conjugates. “This latest patent issuance expands our patent portfolio to now include multiple compounds for addressing atherosclerotic plaque and stands as an important continuation of our goal of being the clear leader in the systemic delivery of bile acids, bile acid synthetics, analogs and conjugates to dramatically enhance cardiovascular and metabolic health,” said AtheroNova CEO Thomas W Gardner. “As our drug development efforts accelerate, the company will continue to pursue additional pending patent applications for systemic delivery of our family of bile acids and bile acid derivatives. The development of our platform is significantly advanced by this achievement.”
Regeneron, Avalanche to Develop Gen-Next Gene Therapy Products Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc have announced the formation of a broad collaboration to discover, develop and commercialise novel gene therapy products for the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases. The collaboration covers novel gene therapy George D. Yancopoulos, vectors and proprietary molecules, Chief Scientific Officer, discovered jointly by Avalanche and Regeneron and President Regeneron Laboratories Regeneron, and developed using the Avalanche Ocular BioFactory, an adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based, proprietary, next-generation platform for the discovery and development of gene therapy vectors for ophthalmology. Pharma Bio World
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Under the terms of the agreement, Avalanche will receive an upfront cash payment, contingent payments of up to USD 640 million upon achievement of certain development and regulatory milestones, plus a royalty on worldwide net sales of collaboration products. The collaboration covers up to eight distinct therapeutic targets, and Regeneron will have exclusive worldwide rights for each product it moves forward in clinical development. In addition, Avalanche has the option to share in development costs and profits for products directed toward two collaboration therapeutic targets selected by Avalanche. As part of the agreement, Regeneron has a time-limited right of first negotiation for certain rights to AVA-101, Avalanche’s gene therapy product targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) currently under development for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), upon completion of the ongoing Phase 2a trial. “We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Avalanche, a leader in the field of next-generation gene therapy technologies,” said George D. Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron and President of Regeneron Laboratories. “This collaboration highlights the commitment by Regeneron to invest in potentially breakthrough therapies that could benefit patients with sight-threatening diseases.”
Verastem Expands COMMAND Study in Japan Verastem, Inc, focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, has announced the expansion of its ongoing COMMAND study to include clinical trial sites in Japan. COMMAND is a registrationdirected trial evaluating the Company’s lead candidate targeting cancer stem cells, VS-6063 (defactinib) a potent inhibitor of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a highly aggressive form of lung cancer and a high percentage of cases contain cancer stem cells. With the inclusion of Japan, COMMAND is now accruing patients and pursuing parallel clinical development in the major markets worldwide. “Typically the Japanese development of novel oncology agents is delayed compared to the rest of the world,” said Professor Kazuhiko Nakagawa, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Kinki University Faculty of Medicine. “We were able to initiate and complete the Phase 1 assessment of VS-6063 in less than a year. By completing the trial so quickly, the ongoing COMMAND study can now include Japanese clinical sites in parallel with the other major countries participating in the trial.” May 2014 55
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