Singapore, Mar 26, 2009: Alnara Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company developing novel, non-systemic orally-delivered protein therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases, today announced a licensing agreement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Alnara has taken worldwide rights to liprotamase, a novel, oral, porcine-free pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) that has already completed a phase III efficacy trial. Under the terms of the agreement Alnara will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market liprotamase.
Liprotamase (earlier known as ALTU-135 and Trizytek) is designed to treat malabsorption that is the result of pancreatic insufficiency associated with conditions like cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic pancreatitis (CP), in which patients require a significant amount of pancreatic enzyme supplements with each meal.
“Liprotamase has the potential to significantly advance the treatment of pancreatic insufficiency, and Alnara plans to complete development, seek FDA approval and make it available to patients,” Alexey Margolin, president and chief executive officer of Alnara said. “Based on the data we have seen in approximately 500 patients with both CF and CP, including data from the ongoing long-term study, which has provided insights into the nutritional benefits of liprotamase based on measures of patient growth, height, body mass index, and fat soluble vitamin absorption, we believe liprotamase has the potential to become the first pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy using modern recombinant technology.”
“The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is excited to enter into a licensing agreement with Alnara for the development of liprotamase, which has the potential to be the first porcine-free pancreatic enzyme therapy for CF patients with pancreatic insufficiency,” said Robert J. Beall, president and CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “We look forward to working with Alnara to quickly finish the development of liprotamase and bring this promising new treatment option to patients with cystic fibrosis.”
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