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THURSDAY
MAY 27, 2004
T H E D A I LY B I O T E C H N O L O G Y N E W S PA P E R
VOLUME 15, NO. 102
PAGE 1 OF 7
Avanir Offering Brings $25M
For Neurodex NDA, Pipeline
Concurrent Pharma Takes Over
Allergan’s Retinoids For Equity
By Karen Pihl-Carey
Staff Writer
As it nears a new drug application filing for its second
product, Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. priced a $25 million
common stock offering that will allow it to continue development of its pipeline products.
The company sold 19.7 million shares of Class A common stock to the sole bookrunner New York-based Lazard
Freres & Co. LLC for $1.27 per share, a slight discount to the
company’s closing stock price Tuesday of $1.33. The offering is expected to close next week.
“We’re finishing up a Phase III program and plan to submit an NDA this year, so this is going to be able to show
everybody that we’ll have the funding to complete that, as
well as to continue to move our extensive pipeline forward
without having a hiccup,” said Gerald Yakatan, president
See Avanir, Page 3
By Randall Osborne
National Editor
Acquiring the same development team that discovered
the topical tazarotene known as Tazorac – though not rights
to the acne drug itself – Concurrent Pharmaceuticals Inc. has
bought a portfolio of near-clinical compounds from Allergan
Inc.’s retinoid and rexinoid nuclear receptor drug program.
“I would call it a logical extension of our core activities,” said Jeffrey Hatfield, recently appointed CEO of the
Fort Washington, Pa.-based firm, which he described as a
small-molecule biotechnology company focused on
kinases, nuclear receptors and enzyme inhibitors.
Privately held Concurrent, which has a lead drug discovery program in renin inhibitors for cardiovascular diseases, is giving Allergan undisclosed equity plus potential
future milestone payments and royalties in exchange for
See Concurrent, Page 2
Brain Enzyme Pointing To Drug
Strategy In Alzheimer’s Disease
Plexxikon Gets $15M Investment
For Diabetes Drug Development
By Sharon Kingman
BioWorld International Correspondent
LONDON – The search is on for molecules to stimulate
a brain enzyme that can prevent the formation of the toxic
deposits that characterize Alzheimer’s disease, following
encouraging results in an animal model.
Rather than focusing on trying to break down the toxic
amyloid β-peptides that lead to the formation of senile
plaques in the brain, the strategy aims to prevent amyloid
β-peptides from forming in the first place. The approach
focuses on boosting the activity of an enzyme called α-secretase, which breaks down amyloid precursor proteins in
such a way that amyloid β-peptides cannot form.
Falk Fahrenholz, director of the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Mainz in Germany, said: “Our
study shows that enhancing the expression or activity of
See Alzheimer’s, Page 5
By Aaron Lorenzo
Senior Staff Writer
Plexxikon Inc. raised $15 million in venture financing
to complete a Series B extension round.
The Berkeley, Calif.-based company said the funding
would accelerate clinical development plans for its lead
product, PLX204. Still in toxicology studies designed to
support an investigational new drug application in the
fourth quarter, the peroxisome proliferation-activated
receptor (PPAR) pan-agonist compound is being developed
for diabetes and related cardiovascular complications.
“Our investors have been tracking the company for
some time and have seen us establish the platform from
the get-go, not only with our internal programs, but also
with partners,” Kathleen Sereda Glaub, Plexxikon’s president and chief financial officer, said. “And we’re getting our
See Plexxikon, Page 6
INSIDE:
OTHER NEWS TO NOTE (ACADIA DROPS IPO PRICE RANGE)....................2-7
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THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2004
Plexxikon
Continued from Page 1
very first homegrown product into the clinic later this year,
so that’s a major milestone to look forward to.”
She said the funding would support operations through
the end of next year. To date, the company has raised a total
of $55 million, with its Series B now worth $46 million.
Plexxikon has begun kilogram-scale manufacturing of
PLX204 in advance of beginning a Phase I/IIa trial to study
the compound’s use in treating Type II diabetes. To that
end, the company has enlisted the services of diabetes and
metabolic disease researcher Ronald Kahn. The president
of Harvard’s Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, he was added
to Plexxikon’s scientific advisory board to help steer
PLX204’s development.
“He has over 20 years of experience working in the
field and is very selective about who he’s willing to work
with,” Glaub said. “He is quite excited about the program
we’re working on, believes it’s quite novel and right on
track with what we now understand about diabetes and its
link with obesity and cardiovascular disease.”
The small-molecule drug modulates the function of
three related targets – PPAR alpha, delta and gamma – and
is expected to lower glucose, triglycerides and free fatty
acids, while increasing high-density lipoprotein. It is envisioned as a once-daily pill. To date, preclinical studies of
PLX204 have shown that it performs all activities with a
better side effect profile than marketed glitazone-class
drugs that produce weight gain.
“I think most clinicians today believe that you can’t just
treat glucose levels, but you really need to treat other
aspects that are perhaps the driving force behind diabetes,”
Glaub said, noting that since a variety of drugs are pre-
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• Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Waltham,
Mass., said the purchasers of $125 million in 3.5 percent
senior convertible notes due 201 1 exercised an option to
purchase $18.75 million in additional securities. The notes
will be convertible into the company’s common stock at an
initial conversion price of $6.64 per share. They may be
redeemed by the company beginning on May 10, 2010. The
company is using the proceeds to support the launch of
Factive, accelerate the Ramoplanin and Factive development programs, pursue additional in-licensing opportunities and for other general corporate purposes.
• Palatin Technologies Inc., of Cranbury, N.J.,
reached an agreement with the FDA on the name, NeutroSpec, for Palatin’s infection-imaging product in the final
stages of the FDA-approval process. The FDA’s Division of
Medication Errors and Technical Support requested that
Palatin change the name of its infection-imaging product,
PAGE 6 OF 7
scribed to combat each factor, the potential for drug-drug
interactions and compliance issues arises. “You need to be
able to manage cholesterol levels, and levels of triglycerides and free fatty acids. That will potentially and theoretically delay the onset of diabetes, or potentially, and
even more positively, prevent it.”
In the diabetes market, PLX204 would compete against
drugs such as Avandia (GlaxoSmithKline plc), a drug for lowering glucose also based on PPAR. Glaub said Plexxikon
would seek a collaborative partner over the course of
PLX204’s development, as well as for other programs that
stem from its Scaffold-Based Drug Discovery platform. The
technology, which generates less dense compounds through
a process that includes screening and co-crystallography to
look at binding sites, produces results in a relatively quick
period. For example, the company produced two different
lead series in six months as part of a kinase target collaboration with Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco.
The platform has produced two other internal programs for Plexxikon, a PDE 4B selective inhibitor for
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a c-Kit inhibitor
for inflammation and oncology. Next year, the company
expects to file an investigational new drug application for
the latter program initially in rheumatoid arthritis. Glaub
said it also might be evaluated for multiple sclerosis.
Two Tokyo-based backers are new to Plexxikon’s
investment team – Yamanouchi Ventures Corp., the venture
arm of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., and NIF Ventures. They joined existing investors Advanced Technology
Ventures, of Boston; Alta Partners, of Embarcadero, Calif.;
A.M. Pappas, of Research Triangle Park, N.C.; CW Ventures,
of New York; GIMV, of Antwerp, Belgium; and Walden International, of San Francisco. ■
formerly known as LeuTech, to prevent potential name confusion and reduce the chance of a medication error.
• Phase 2 Discovery Inc., of Cincinnati, said the FDA
granted orphan drug designation to PD-6735, a melatonin analogue for treating circadian sleep disorders in totally blind individuals. Unable to differentiate day from night, their sleep and
wake cycles are not synchronized with common day and night
cycles. The company said studies have indicated that PD-6735
is effective in both disorders when used at doses up to 100 mg,
and has displayed a positive safety profile at such doses.
• responsif GmbH, of Erlangen, Germany, began the
first clinical trials of an immunotherapy it has developed
for renal-cell carcinoma. The new therapeutic concept,
which is made of tumor cells collected from patients during
routine operations, is designed to activate a body’s
endogenous immune defenses against tumor cells via
immunization. After being harvested, the collected tumor
cells are first inactivated, deep frozen and kept in cold storage. Shortly before treatment, the cells will be coated with
an immunostimulating protein called Annexin V, and subsequently injected subcutaneously.
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Copyright © 2004 Thomson BioWorld®. Reproduction is strictly prohibited. Visit our web site at www.bioworld.com.