Nitec Pharma Licenses Tarenflurbil For Chronic Inflammation And Pain

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry;  Arthritis / Rheumatology;  Bones / Orthopaedics
Article Date: 06 Nov 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Nitec Pharma AG, an emerging specialty pharma company, announces the signing of an agreement with PAZ GmbH for the exclusive worldwide rights to Tarenflurbil, PAZ's anti-inflammatory drug, for the treatment of chronic inflammation and pain. The in-licensing of Tarenflurbil broadens Nitec's pipeline and underscores the company's ambition to become a significant player focused on treating unmet medical needs in chronic inflammation and pain. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tarenflurbil is a novel inhibitor of the transcription regulator NF-kB and the transcription factor AP-1, both of which are important regulators of inflammation. Tarenflurbil inhibits the DNA binding activity of both targets reducing inflammation and its associated pain without any detectable effect on COX I/II so far. COX inhibition has in recent years been associated with safety concerns when used long term.

Potential indications of Tarenflurbil include Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and related diseases such as Ankylosing Spondylitis. Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is a major cause of pain and morbidity. Its prevalence is estimated to be 11-12% of the Western population, with women being affected significantly more than men. The disease impacts severely on the physical function and day-to-day quality of life of an individual. At clinically advanced stages, Osteoarthritis is characterized by tenderness, chronic joint pain, limitation of movement and inflammation.

"This licensing deal is a significant step in expanding the Nitec portfolio of development compounds," said Anders Härfstrand the CEO of Nitec. "We have already validated our approach by successfully completing the clinical development of Lodotra, which is awaiting marketing authorization for Rheumatoid Arthritis in Europe. The licensing of Tarenflurbil broadens our portfolio and strengthens our position as an emerging specialty pharma company focused on chronic inflammation and pain."

Karl Nägler, Principal at Atlas Venture, added: "The in-licensing of Tarenflurbil is an important milestone in Nitec's development. It validates Nitec's ability to attract exciting development stage product opportunities based on the long standing experience and expertise of its team in developing and commercializing treatments in the field of inflammation."

Tarenflurbil has already demonstrated significant pain relief in a human pain model. Nitec will initiate clinical development of Tarenflurbil shortly and plans to conduct Phase IIa studies in the first indication. Tarenflurbil will be Nitec's second clinical product candidate after Lodotra.

About Nitec Pharma AG

Nitec Pharma is an emerging specialty pharma company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative medicines for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases and pain. Nitec is headquartered in Reinach, Switzerland, with a subsidiary in Mannheim, Germany. The Company's most advanced product is Lodotra ™, a circadian cytokine modulator (CCM) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Nitec was originally founded in 2004 as a spin-out of Merck KGaA. The Company is financed by Atlas Venture, Global Life Science Ventures and NGN Capital.

http://www.nitecpharma.com

About PAZ GmbH

PAZ, headquarted in Frankfurt and with further subsidiaries in Germany, is specialised in the development, patenting and outlicensing of innovative compounds based on known active ingredients. Core of the company is the development of NCE´s based on pure enantiomers of known racemic compounds. Together with a licensee PAZ has developed dexibuprofen, the dextrorotatory enantiomer of ibuprofen as first product of this kind and launched it in 26 countries as an analgetic and antiinflammatory drug. PAZ's key compound in development is tarenflurbil which is now licenced to Nitec Pharma. Based on the newly-discovered mechanism of action of this drug class other therapeutical applications of tarenflurbil in addition to the use as analgetical, antiinflammatory drug are currently being evaluated. PAZ, an independent, privately owned company, was founded in 1980.

This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments.

http://www.nitecpharma.com