London, UK, 7 March 2013 – PolyTherics Limited (“PolyTherics”), a provider of solutions for the development of better biopharmaceuticals, announces that it has received an undisclosed milestone payment from Celtic Pharma Holdings (“Celtic”), the international healthcare group, triggered by further progress on their haematology alliance to produce longer-acting versions of blood factor proteins.
In 2012 Celtic (via its subsidiary Cantab Biopharmaceuticals) and PolyTherics successfully completed a feasibility programme to evaluate the use of PolyTherics’ TheraPEG™ technology to develop a unique long-acting PEGylated form of Blood Factor VIII (“TheraPEG™-FVIII”) for the treatment of haemophilia A. Celtic subsequently exercised its option to take an exclusive global licence to use TheraPEG™ to develop and commercialise a TheraPEG™-FVIII product.
TheraPEG™-FVIII given by both the intravenous and subcutaneous routes maintained haemostasis for up to 72 hours in a preclinical model of naturally occurring haemophilia A, which indicates that patients could be adequately treated with once a week dosing compared to current treatment regimens, which require an average of three doses a week. This is believed to be the first study showing that FVIII administered subcutaneously is effective and, combined with the extended duration of action, provides the potential for a more convenient regimen for patients with this life-long condition, especially those using FVIII for regular prophylaxis against bleeding episodes.
Celtic already has exclusive, global licences to use TheraPEG™ technology to develop and commercialise long-acting forms of Factor IX (for the treatment of haemophilia B) and Factor VIIa (for the treatment of haemophilia types A or B in patients with an immune response to FVIII or FIX, respectively). Under the terms of these licences PolyTherics is due to receive development and regulatory milestones as well as royalties on future worldwide product sales.
Michael Earl, Partner in Celtic, said: “We are pleased with the progress being made on the production of TheraPEG™-FVIII by Cantab Biopharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celtic. We are seeing the beneficial properties of PolyTherics’ TheraPEG™ technology being realised across our haemophilia product portfolio and expect to move these programmes into full-scale development this year.”
“The continued success of our collaboration with Celtic to produce a portfolio of long-acting blood factors for haemophilia using TheraPEG™ provides further endorsement of the value of our conjugation technology as well as licence revenues to support our growing business,” commented John Burt, CEO of PolyTherics.
About PolyTherics
PolyTherics provides technology solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals.
PolyTherics’ suite of proprietary technologies enables the development of novel antibody drug conjugates (ADC) and biopharmaceuticals with extended duration of action or other desirable clinical characteristics. ThioBridge™ is a superior conjugation technology for creating more stable, less heterogeneous ADCs through site-specific linkage and rebridging of disulfide bonds. TheraPEG™, CyPEG™ and HiPEG™ are PolyTherics’ conjugation technologies for optimising the pharmacokinetics of biological products, including therapeutic proteins and antibody fragments. These conjugation technologies attach polymers, typically polyethylene glycol (PEG), to specific sites on proteins and peptides and may also be used to create homodimer and bispecific products. PolyPEG™ is a patented comb polymer that enables generation of lower viscosity conjugates of therapeutic proteins with extended in vivo half-life. GlycoPol™ is a patented polymer that enables specific tissue-targeting of biopharmaceuticals.
PolyTherics is a privately owned UK company and is backed by institutional investors, including Imperial Innovations (LON:IVO), Proven Health VCT plc, The Capital Fund, Oxford Technology 3 VCT plc and Oxford Technology 4 VCT plc, Advantage Enterprise and Innovation Fund, Mercia Funds 1 & 2, and high net worth individuals with funds managed by Longbow Capital LLP. The Company has dedicated facilities in London and
Coventry, UK.
For more information contact:
PolyTherics
John Burt, PolyTherics
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7691 3580
Email: john.burt@polytherics.com
Mark Swallow, Sita Shah, Chris Gardner
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7282 2948/1052/2995
Email: mark.swallow@citigatedr.co.uk