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Pfizer to buy firm developing AMD product
The new compound, in preclinical testing, targets angiogenesis. It may be applicable to patients with AMD and cancer.
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Pfizer intends to buy Angiosyn, a privately held biotechnology firm based in La Jolla, Calif., the biotech company announced in a press release. Angiosyn’s novel angiostatic agent is in development for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, the company said.
Pfizer is expected to pay up to $527 million for the biotech firm, subject to regulatory antitrust approval. Both companies said they expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2005.
Pfizer, along with Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, already markets the drug Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection, Eyetech/Pfizer), which received U.S. marketing approval in December for treatment of choroidal neovascularization in AMD. According to news reports at the time of the acquisition announcement, Angiosyn’s compound uses a different mechanism of action than Macugen. Company officials hope the two mechanisms will be complementary.
New angiostatic agent
An investigational new drug application for the compound was prepared prior to the announcement of the deal with Pfizer, according to company officials. It is unknown when Pfizer will file the application. Once approved by the Food and Drug Administration, phase 1 safety clinical trials may begin.
Under the agreement, Angiosyn would be merged into a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer, according to the Angiosyn press release. Angiosyn’s stockholders would receive an upfront payment as well as royalties on future sales. Full payment would be contingent on the completion of commercial development of an ophthalmic indication for the drug and a second therapeutic application, the press release said.
The angiostatic agent is currently considered a preclinical compound and has not been named, according to Angiosyn. Development began in May 2003 by Angiosyn’s principal cofounders, Martin Friedlander, MD, PhD, and Paul Schimmel, PhD, of the Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Friedlander and colleagues have been investigating the angiogenic process for several years, publishing several studies on the topic.
Mechanism of action
Little has been revealed about the mechanism of action of the agent, which is being developed to control angiogenesis. The drug is initially being developed for ophthalmic applications, but it may hold promise for cancer treatment.
The Angiosyn agent is not like the anti-angiogenic agent Macugen, which inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Dr. Friedlander told Ocular Surgery News.
“[The agent] is synergistic with other angiostatic compounds when tested in several angiogenic models,” he said. “As an angiostatic monotherapy, it’s as good as, if not better than, many of the compounds we have tested.”
In animal studies, the Scripps researchers have observed that human tyrosyl-tRNA (TyrRS) contains a fragment that can promote angiogenesis.
In another study, the researchers reported that a carboxy terminal domain of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (TrpRS) can act as a potent angiostatic agent. “This fragment of the TrpRS, in fact, occurs naturally as an alternative slice form mode in response to certain interferons,” Dr. Friedlander said. “This fragment can also be made as a recombinant protein in bacteria, and when properly manufactured is the angiostatic agent used in the animal studies done so far.”
While little is known about the compound’s precise mechanism of action, Dr. Friedlander said it is distinct from that of VEGF, and the researchers continue to explore how the compound works and how it may be best applied.
Prior to establishing Angiosyn to develop the compound into a drug, the preclinical basic science work was funded by grants from the National Eye Institute and the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Friedlander said.
For Your Information:
- Martin Friedlander, MD, PhD, can be reached at The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037; 858-784-9138; email: friedlan@scripps.edu.
References:
- Wakasugi K, Slike BM, Hood J, et al. A human aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase as a regulator of angiogenesis. PNAS; 2002(99):173-177.
- Otani A, Slike BM, Dorrell MI, et al. A fragment of human TrpRS as a potent antagonist of ocular angiogenesis. PNAS; 2002(99):178-183.
- Jeanne Michelle Gonzalez is an OSN Staff Writer who covers all aspects of ophthalmology, specializing in practice management, regulatory and legislative issues. She focuses geographically on Latin America.