Start-Up Previews (1/05)
Executive Summary
A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, The Asthma Challenge: Not Solved Yet, features profiles of airPharma, Aperon Biosystems, Inverseon and Topigen Pharmaceuticals. Plus these Start-Ups across Health Care: Ensemble Discovery, Miikana Therapeutics, MiTiHeart and Resonant Medical.
A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in
the current issue of START-UP: Windhover's Review of Emerging
Medical Ventures
This month's profile group: The Asthma Challenge: Not Solved
Yet
airPharma in-licenses and develops
neglected, branded products for the respiratory market. Its lead
product, a reformulation of synthetic surfactant Pumactant,
is designed to replace the deficient natural barrier to inhaled
allergens, dust particulates, and other environmental toxins. Phase
II trials are set to begin for seasonal allergic asthma and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease.
Aperon Biosystems Corp. wants to
make monitoring of nitric oxide—a reliable marker of airway
inflammation--as routine for asthma patients as glucose checks are
for diabetics. It is developing a low cost, noninvasive NO
biosensor suitable for use at the point of care and at home for
asthma self management. The company believes that regular
monitoring with its device will give patients the feedback they
need to better control their symptoms.
Beta inverse agonists, also known as beta blockers, have long
been contraindicated in asthma where they have a reputation for
impressive short-term efficacy, but at great expense: namely, an
unfortunate tendency to worsen asthmatic conditions over time.
Inverseon Inc. , however, doesn't see
that as an inevitability. The company claims that its lead product,
a beta-adrenergic inverse agonist has beneficial effects on asthma
with long-term use.
Topigen Pharmaceuticals Inc. plans
to mount a full-scale attack on chronic respiratory ailments such
as asthma, COPD and allergic rhinitis, with mRNA-interfering drugs
that target multiple pathways. Its lead compound, for asthma,
combines two antisense molecules to target at least eight different
components of the inflammatory response.
Start-Ups across Health Care
Ensemble Discovery Corp. is
developing a breakthrough system for assembling and discovering new
molecular entities. The company's proprietary technology,
DNA-Programmed Chemistry, can quickly synthesize molecules
that are intractable to traditional synthesis techniques as well as
identify and purify novel molecules with desired properties.
Miikana Therapeutics Inc. is
focused on in-licensing late-stage oncology compounds that fit well
with the staff's expertise in cancer pathways effecting apoptosis
and mitotic catastrophe. Longer term, it will discover and develop
drugs internally against novel but validated targets such as
kinases, and histone deacetylases.
Despite the significant milestone that Thoratec Corp.
has achieved in creating a new market for
the use of left ventricular assist devices as a destination
therapy, the field is still at the beginning of a long journey.
MiTiHeart Corp. aims to skip ahead with
a centrifugal pump that is based on magnetic levitation technology.
It requires half as much power to operate as other devices, and
there are no wear-prone contacting surfaces.
Resonant Medical Inc. hopes to
improve radiation oncology treatment planning, verification, and
delivery with 3D ultrasound image-guided adaptive radiotherapy
products. Its Restitu is a multilevel platform for
electronically collecting 3D CT and ultrasound images from cancer
patients in their planning and treatment stages. The company's
first FDA-cleared indication is for prostate cancer.
