Bio Screening Industry News

ADVANCING NOVEL APPROACH TO PREVENT MEDICAL DEVICE INFECTIONS

VANCOUVER, Jan. 5 /CNW/ - Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI,
TSX: ANP) today announced the initiation of its United States pivotal study
examining an anti-microbial central venous catheter (CVC). This U.S.
multi-center study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of a CVC coated with
the drug 5-Flourouracil (5-FU), a non-traditional anti-infective agent. The
study enrolled its first patient last week in Rapid City, South Dakota, and
will involve approximately 600 patients at 20 centers in the United States.
Central venous catheters are usually inserted into critically ill
patients for extended periods of time to administer fluids, drugs, and
nutrition, as well as facilitate frequent blood draws. One of the
complications associated with CVC implantation is infection, which can occur
when bacteria contaminate the catheter. CVC infections that progress to
bloodstream infections, or septicemia, can become life threatening.
Approximately 3.5 million CVC catheters are used in the U.S. annually leading
to approximately 250,000 CVC-related infections and an estimated 40,000
deaths. The cost of caring for these patients is estimated to be as high as
US$56,000 per infection.
Angiotech is developing its infection prevention platform using the drug
5-FU as a non-traditional anti-infective in order to address concerns voiced
by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regarding overuse of traditional
antibiotics, which can contribute to an increase in the antibiotic resistance
of bacteria. Traditional anti-infective coatings are being used more
frequently each year, and are currently used on approximately 20 percent of
CVC products implanted.
“We are excited to be participating in a study addressing such a
pervasive and critical issue,” said Jorge Reyno, MD, an infectious disease
specialist at Rapid City Regional Hospital in South Dakota where the first
patient was recently enrolled. “Hospital-based infections, which include CVC
infections, are a vexing and potentially lethal problem that demands a better
solution.”
“The use of 5-FU as an anti-infective coating to prevent catheter-related
bloodstream infections is innovative and unique,” said Stephen Heard, MD,
Chair, Department of Anesthesiology at University of Massachusetts Memorial
Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and
principal investigator. “(In vitro) data demonstrate that 5-FU has
antibacterial activity similar to current anti-infective catheter surfaces. We
are eager to see if these effects impact catheter colonization and bloodstream
infection in patients.”
“Two million patients contract hospital-based infections in the U.S. each
year,” said Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D, Chairman of the Committee to Reduce
Infection Deaths (RID). “RID applauds the efforts of innovative pharmaceutical
companies to reduce catheter-based infections.”

About the Anti-Infective CVC Trial:
The CVC trial is a randomized, single-blind, active-controlled, two-arm,
multi-center clinical study. The lead trial site is the University of
Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, with Dr. Stephen Heard as principal
investigator. The primary objective of the study is to compare the Angiotech
CVC catheter to a leading anti-infective catheter with regards to preventing
bacterial colonization. Other objectives will include prevention of local
catheter-related infections or widespread bloodstream infections. Following
favorable study results, the company intends to request 510k market clearance
for the product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

About the Angiotech Anti-Infective CVC Technology:
Due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the CDC has
discouraged overuse of traditional antibiotics to help avoid the creation of
resistant strains and has encouraged the search for alternative anti-infective
strategies.
Angiotech is actively developing a broad anti-infective platform using
non-traditional agents found through its proprietary drug screening process.
This process consists of screening thousands of approved pharmaceutical
compounds and discovering non-traditional applications for their use in local
drug delivery in combination with medical devices and biomaterials. Through
this proprietary drug identification strategy, Angiotech has chosen 5-FU as
its lead compound, an FDA approved drug. Some of the advantages of 5-FU
include: 1) the ability to kill bacteria such as gram positive Staphylococcus
aureus and gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be lethal
pathogens, 2) the unique and valuable ability to help prevent formation of
biofilm, a slimy coating that bacteria produce to protect them from
traditional antibiotics, and 3) the fact that it doesn’t contribute to
bacterial resistance against traditional antibiotics.

About RID:
The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID) is a national
organization, founded by Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D., dedicated to providing
hospital administrators, caregivers, insurers, and patients with the
information they need to stop hospital infections. RID’s mission is threefold:
to motivate hospitals to make infection prevention a top priority; to inform
patients about the steps they can take to reduce their risk of infection; and
to ensure that no matter where you live, you can find out which hospitals in
your area have the worst infection problems. The Committee has a distinguished
membership, including Yale Professor, Dr. Sherwin Nuland, author of The
Doctor’s Plague, a biography of Ignac Semmelweis, Dr. Elizabeth Whelan,
founder of the American Council on Science and Health, and Nobel Laureate,
Dr. Joshua Lederberg, as well as corporate leaders, philanthropists, and civic
leaders. To find out more about RID, please visit their website at
http://www.hospitalinfection.org.

About Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
Vancouver-based Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty
pharmaceutical company pioneering the combination of pharmaceutical compounds
with medical devices and biomaterials to both create novel solutions for
poorly addressed disease states and improve surgical outcomes. To find out
more about Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP), please
visit our website at www.angiotech.com.

Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current
fact, including without limitation statements containing the words
“anticipates,” “believes,” “may,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expects,” and
“will” and words of similar import, constitute “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or
developments to be materially different from any future results, events or
developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such
factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business
conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which the Company operates;
technology changes; competition; changes in business strategy or development
plans; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; existing
governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with,
governmental regulations; liability and other claims asserted against the
Company; and other factors referenced in the Company’s filings with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission or the Canadian securities
regulators. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume
the obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

For further information: Analysts and Investors: Todd Young, Vice
President Investor Relations and Communications, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., (604) 221-7676 ext 6933; Analysts: Rui Avelar, Chief Medical Officer,
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (604) 221-7676 ext 6996; Media: Colleen
Beauregard, Waggener Edstrom Bioscience, (503) 443-7863, Email:
colleenb@wagged.com

PharmaDesign, Inc. and Euroscreen s.a. today announced a partnership to identify novel natural peptide ligands for orphan human G protein coupled receptors. PharmaDesign’s proprietary peptide library offers novel opportunities for identification of novel natural ligands while Euroscreen’s expertise in GPCR target discovery, functional screening of orphan receptors and pharmacological characterization will provide rapid screening of PharmaDesign’s Library and subsequent target validation. The partnership will provide novel Targets for partnering with shared income for the companies.

PharmaDesign, Tokyo, Japan; and Euroscreen, Brussels, Belgium (PRWEB) January 5, 2006 — PharmaDesign, Inc. and Euroscreen s.a. today announced a partnership to identify novel natural peptide ligands for orphan human G protein coupled receptors. PharmaDesign’s proprietary peptide library offers novel opportunities for identification of novel natural ligands while Euroscreen’s expertise in GPCR target discovery, functional screening of orphan receptors and pharmacological characterization will provide rapid screening of PharmaDesign’s Library and subsequent target validation. The partnership will provide novel Targets for partnering with shared income for the companies.

“We really wish this collaborative research will be so productive that it shows a novel way in drug discovery.” said Dr. Toshio Furuya, President &CEO of PharmaDesign Inc.

“This should provide our companies with a rapid opportunity to identify novel targets for original drug discovery programs,” said Dr. François Roman, the Head of Drug Development R&D at Euroscreen.

For further information, please contact:

Euroscreen s.a. Tel: +32 71 348 500
Pierre Nokin, Ph.D.
President and CEO

PharmaDesign, Inc. Tel: +81 3 3523 9630
Sam Noda
General Manager, Business Development Division

About PharmaDesign Inc.

PharmaDesign was established in 1999 as a genome-based drug discovery company specialized in structure bioinformatics and drug design. The Company conduct consulting research business in genome-based drug discovery as well as its own research to search novel drug targets by predicting proteins’ functions based on 3-D structures, and find lead compounds.

The Company has also developed PharmaGPEP, a library of peptides designed as intrinsic ligand candidates from human genome sequence using bioinformatics.

About Euroscreen s.a.

Euroscreen is a world leader in G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The Company integrates its research expertise in this area with its patented high-throughput AequoScreen™ cellular assay platform to patent new GPCR targets and drug candidates.

The Company is building its own patent portfolio of GPCR targets and novel drug leads for licensing to biopharmaceutical companies, and to date has agreements with Amersham/GE Healthcare, Cephalon, ChemDiv, Evotec, ICOS, Merck & Co, Pfizer Inc, Solvay, Syngenta and UCB. Euroscreen has also established collaborations with numerous academic centers for access to licenses to help in making available its broad menu of GPCR-based products (recombinant cell lines and membrane preparations) and services (custom screening and cloning).

Euroscreen has grown significant and strong patent positions to protect many key drug targets for licensing. Such patents include CCR5, ChemR23, GPR43, GPR7/8, purinergic receptors (P2Y4, P2Y11 and P2Y13) and SHIP2 for type II diabetes. Euroscreen is able to offer intellectual property rights to companies for the development of therapeutic drugs that act through the above-mentioned targets. For more information regarding the Euroscreen’s portfolio, please contact Dr. Vincent Lannoy.

Euroscreen is a privately held company based in Brussels, Belgium with 80 employees of which 50 are in R&D.

Source: Manila Times - Philippines

By Ayn Veronica L. de Jesus

SUPERIOR health-care accessibility is one indicator of an economy’s vigor. But such a service can’t be merely left for the government to provide. The private sector has a hefty stake in ensuring that medicines and services are available to the consumers.

The plateauing of existing diseases
and the emergence of new ones is
driving companies to develop
stronger treatments.

In the Philippines, the health-care sector has been nothing more than an afterthought in the government’s budget. Even with that, pharmaceutical companies are trying to do their fair share to improve the system by launching related programs, providing significant discounts on medicines and reaching out to the population via medical missions.

Painstaking effort

For its part, the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, is stepping up research and development efforts that could launch 20 new medicines by the end of 2009.

In the pipeline are medicines for nervous system disorders, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, inflammation and respiratory diseases.

In 2005 the company released treatments for macular degeneration (leading cause of blindness in the elderly) and for renal cancer. This year, the company is gearing up to unveil medicines to cure candidiasis and insomnia, and an antibiotic for skin and soft tissue infection; and smoking addiction. It will also introduce an inhaled form of insulin.

The company time table includes HIV/AIDS treatment (2007); osteoporosis prevention medicine, bipolar disorder treatment, medicine that will raise HDL while lowering LDL (2008); and stroke, cancer, obesity, macular degeneration, pain treatments (2009).

Villanueva explained that, “It takes about 11 to 15 years and $800 million before a compound can reach patients based on the company’s stringent rules in discovery, screening and clinical trials.” She added that out of nearly 7 million compounds tested, only one on average will reach the market after more than a decade of research and development.

Over that period, a compound must undergo phases of clinical pharmacology, preclinical safety, exploratory development and full development before it reaches the market. Factors that could delay or halt a compound’s development include complexity or lack of information about a disease, adverse reactions among tested patients, poor absorption by the body, side effects, safety, instability and its impracticality to produce.

Business and social institution

Noel Isberto, vice president for corporate affairs of GlaxoSmithKline, said that his company is developing medicines to treat cervical cancer for women, as well as those for asthma, diabetes and hypertension.

These medicines will be tied to the company’s Value Health program, which was launched in 2004. After the pilot year, GSK is ready this year to fully forge ahead with the program with the addition of more medicines.

The program offers significant price reductions of up to 30 percent on some original branded medicines that guarantee superior quality, efficacy, safety and affordability. To avail of these discounts, all patient has to do is to voluntarily register upon receiving doctor’s prescriptions of medicines included in the program. Upon the doctor’s recommendation, the patient can officially join the program.

Besides the much-reduced prices, enrollment in the program entitles the patient to information through newsletters and other printed materials and regular checkups.

The medicines include those for the treatment of asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

“Pharmaceutics is a business and social institution because medicine is a right, and pharmaceutics is a responsibility,” said Isberto.

Dr. Cesar Recto, medical director of Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) said that, “cancer is about to overtake cardiovascular disease as the number one killer” worldwide. Although not able to cite actual figures, he said this was the conclusion of studies conducted in the United States, showing that “the rate of cardiovascular diseases is plateauing.”

As such, MSD is shifting its focus toward oncology treatments.

As well, the company is in the thick of developing treatments for cholesterol normalization, osteoporosis, arthritis, antibiotics and diabetes, and is researching treatments for diseases of the central nervous system such as Parkinson’s and depression.

At the moment, MSD has not set up any long-term programs, such as the GSK’s Value Health, but Recto said some of the company’s short-term programs are up for review this year.

Facing the challenges

Even as the companies increase investments and accelerate R&D efforts, many obstacles need to be hurdled in 2006 and the years ahead.

One is the continued local manufacture and distribution or importation of counterfeit medicines.

While the companies are knowledgeable in the telltale signs of a fake drug—such as poor printing quality on the packaging, differences in the company logo, spelling errors—consumers still need to be educated. “We are looking for new technology” that will thwart the efforts of counterfeiters, said Isberto of GSK.

One sure sign of a counterfeit drug is its bargain basement price. “Don’t look for bargains when it comes to medicines,” Isberto said. He added that consumers should only buy from leading and reliable drug stores, and not from friends or individual peddlers.

Of the P80-billion value of pharmaceutical market, 8 to 10 percent succumb to fake drugs, the biggest manufacturers of which are China and India.

Pfizer’s Villanueva said another difficulty the industry faces is the level of patient compliance in following doctors’ prescriptions.

“Patients are directed to take the medicine for 30 days, but they only take it for 22 days,” she said, referring to a company studies. “We are discovering the rate of compliance through our company programs,” she said.

Low patient compliance is also true for patients with chronic diseases, meaning diseases that require a lifetime of medication.

MSD’s Recto said that another challenge is that of herbal and organic medicines.

“Filipinos have no hesitation to buy herbal medicines that have not been studied, but think twice before buying well-researched medicine from the pharmaceutical companies,” he lamented. He ironically noted that herbal medicines promise to alleviate or eliminate diseases, yet a warning on their packaging states, “No approved therapeutic effects.”

“Many patients stop taking their medicines and shift to herbal treatments. But herbal medicines are not also cheap.” He warned that consumers should “be wary of herbal products that promise to be cure-alls.”

BIOWIRE2K

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 3, 2006–Cetek Corporation announced it has raised $10 million to advance its proprietary drug discovery platform and its emerging pipeline of compounds to treat cancer and infectious diseases. The company also announced the formation of a scientific advisory board of world leading experts in oncology, infectious disease, clinical medicine and drug discovery.

Investors participating in the financing included Argonaut Private Equity, Ventry Industries LLC, Gainesbourgh Investments, James L. Waters, and Stata Ventures. All are existing investors in Cetek.

“Cetek has made impressive progress,” commented Dr. Barry Berkowitz, President and CEO. “The financing is a vote of confidence in our technology, pipeline and business strategy. The recruitment of a prestigious advisory board underscores our evolution into a discovery and development organization as well as the potential of our approach.

“Our strategy is two-fold,” Dr. Berkowitz added, “to leverage our drug discovery technologies through service agreements and collaborations, and to commercialize our compounds through strategic alliances.” Cetek is well positioned in the current environment, with pharmaceutical and major biotechnology companies increasingly turning to novel, time and cost efficient approaches to drug discovery and to innovative earlier stage compounds to strengthen their pipelines.”

Cetek pursues an integrated approach to drug discovery based upon its proprietary, high throughput capillary electrophoresis (CE Assay) screening technology and novel chemical biology-focused drug source. The CE Assay provides a number of distinct strengths that are particularly useful for drug discovery today. Many of proteomic and genomic targets, such as protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, and orphan drug targets that have been desirable but challenging for conventional high throughput screening technologies, are now efficiently accessible with the CE Assay. Cetek’s proprietary CE Assays are integrated with drug sources, including its proprietary natural product libraries, enabling access to a wide range of chemical diversity for drug discovery.

Scientific Advisory Board

The Chairman of the Cetek Scientific Advisory board is Barry L. Karger, Ph.D., James L. Waters Chair in Analytical Chemistry and Biological Analysis at Northeastern University, and a Cetek founder. The other members of the board include:

– K. Frank Austen, M.D., AstraZeneca Professor of Respiratory and Inflammatory Disease at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital;

– James D. Griffin, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Medical Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School;

– Charles L. Cooney, Ph.D., Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at MIT; Co-Director of the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, and Co-Director of the MIT Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry;

– Martin S. Hirsch, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at Harvard School of Public Health; Infectious Disease Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

About Cetek

Cetek is a discovery and development stage pharmaceutical company built on proven, innovative technologies. Cetek is a leader in drug screening with a core technology based on a proprietary capillary electrophoresis screening (CE Assay) technology. The CE Assay technology provides unique advantages in drug discovery by enabling access to many target classes, including protein-protein targets, protein-nucleic acid targets, and targets of unknown function (orphans). With its CE Assay, drug sourcing and related discovery technologies, Cetek integrates chemistry, biology and engineering into an industrialized high throughput drug discovery operation. The company has successfully applied its technologies for collaborations with numerous other companies and internal drug discovery, with lead programs in cancer and virology. For more information, visit www.cetek.com.