Start-Up Previews

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, "Start-Ups Against Inflammation," features profiles of Asphleia Pharmaceuticals, Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, ProtAb Ltd., and Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: CG Therapeutics, Healionics, Mpathy Medical Devices and Pronostics.

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: Start-Ups Against Inflammation

In an era of high-tech medicine, of painstakingly designed molecular inhibitors and personalized medicine driven by genetic responses to drugs, [Asphelia Pharmaceuticals Inc.] (Also see "Asphelia Pharmaceuticals Inc." - Scrip, 1 Jun, 2008.) is placing its bets on a primitive technology: intestinal worms, known as helminthes. Helminthes release proteins that boost the activity of regulatory T-cells, and the antigens they produce appear to influence a variety of targets. Asphelia is developing helminthes as an oral treatment for Crohn’s and other autoimmune diseases. Also in the company’s pipeline, a novel oral compound that targets integrins in order to treat immunological and inflammatory disorders.

Formed around a preclinical program licensed from Icos, Calistoga Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing multiple small-molecule inhibitors of the phosphoinositide-3 kinase pathway, a hot area in inflammation. Calistoga is targeting the PI3K delta isoform. Its initial clinical indications are hematological malignancies, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis. A Phase I trial of CAL-101, an orally available, small-molecule inhibitor for inflammatory disease and cancer, is currently underway.

While the aim of many existing biological therapies is to reduce levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta and TNF-alpha, Israeli start-up ProtAb Ltd. aims to increase levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines. ProtAb's lead monoclonal antibody, Proximab, is directed against an epitope of the bacterial heat shock protein 65 (Hsp65). As well as linking to Hsp65, Proximab cross-links with a surface ligand on macrophages, activating a signal transduction pathway that up-regulates anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-10. ProtAb has completed two proof-of-concept studies that showed efficacy in adjuvant-induced and collagen-induced arthritis. In 2008, the company will also conduct proof-of-concept studies of Proximab in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and psoriasis

Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Also see "Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals Inc." - Scrip, 1 Jun, 2008.) is developing a new class of lipid mediators, dubbed resolvins, which are generated through the oxidation of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. While omega-3 fatty acids have long been heralded for their reputed ability to reduce inflammation, many grams must be consumed to produce any physiological effect. In contrast, Resolvyx says its resolvins are potent at low milligram quantities and so are good candidates for commercialization as drugs. Resolvyx is advancing two programs into the clinic: one will test RX-10008, a synthetic analog of a resolvin, for patients with dry eye. The other aims to develop the native resolvin, RvE1, to create the drug candidate RX-10001 for systemic inflammatory disorders, starting with exercise-induced asthma.

Start-Ups Across Health Care

The founders of CG Therapeutics Inc. (Also see "CG Therapeutics Inc." - Scrip, 1 Jun, 2008.) believe they can benefit from just such serendipity as enabled sildenafil (Viagra), originally tested as a cardiovascular drug, to become a groundbreaking treatment for erectile dysfunction. The start-up is developing a molecule first pursued at Ohio State University as a long-acting contraceptive some 30 years ago, now as a cancer vaccine meant to treat solid tumors.

Device manufacturers looking to bolster the biocompatibility of their products can now turn to Healionics Corp. (Also see "Healionics Corp." - Medtech Insight, 1 Jun, 2008.), a supplier of biomaterial scaffolds designed to improve the biointegration of percutaneous or fully implanted medical devices. The company’s STAR technology is a synthetic, three-dimensional matrix, similar to a thin, porous sponge. Because this biomaterial has been precisely engineered with uniform pore sizes to the approximate size of a single cell, the company says that living tissue and new blood vessels actually grow and weave into these pores.

Mpathy Medical Devices Ltd. (Also see "Mpathy Medical Devices Ltd." - Medtech Insight, 1 Jun, 2008.) is focused on one of the hottest medtech markets--women’s health. The company’s physiologically compatible and ultra-lightweight Smartmesh technology targets the female anatomy to treat urinary stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Although Smartmesh is based on the same polypropylene material that has been used as mesh by other companies for many years for hernia repair and pelvic floor reconstruction, Mpathy Medical has innovated certain characteristics that encourage new tissue growth.

[Pronostics Ltd.] (Also see "Pronostics Ltd. " - Medtech Insight, 1 Jun, 2008.) describes its UltraPlex assay technology as a ‘digital multiplex solution.’ The platform uses microscopic aluminum microparticles (UltraCodes), each with a unique physical barcode etched onto the surface. Every microparticle carries an assay or test incorporating chemistries developed by Pronostics, and the technology can be used for any reaction that produces a fluorescent output. Mixtures of different UltraCodes can be placed in the same vessel and reactions carried out in parallel. Applications for UltraPlex multiplexed assays include direct immunoassays, sandwich ELISAs, DNA hybridization, activity assays, receptor binding assays and cell-based assays.