Start-Up Previews (11/2010)

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, "Start-Ups Look For A Place In Coming Hepatitis C Combo Regimens." features profiles of AiCuris, Avila Therapeutics, Okairos, Viroblock and Zirus. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Arineta, HemoShear, Hygieia and Silver Bullet Therapeutics.

Start-Ups Look For A Place In HCV Combo Regimens

In the four years since AiCuris GMBH & Co. KG spun out of Bayer HealthCare's anti-infectives unit, it has continued to advance its inherited pipeline of antibacterial and antiviral drugs. AiCuris also has in-house research programs and is open to in-licensing for selected indications. Since nearly all of its drugs stem from novel chemical classes and target new modes of action, AiCuris describes its candidates as "resistance breaking by design."

(Also see "AiCuris GMBH & Co. KG" - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Avila Therapeutics Inc. aims to create a hepatitis C program that will raise the bar on best in class. Its platform creates highly selective drugs that bond covalently to receptors, effectively silencing them and overcoming resistance mechanisms. This should result in pan-genotype potency, good tolerability, and activity against the various mutations the virus creates. An advantage of covalent bonding is the ability to silence targets longer than other therapeutics, leading to the possibility of less frequent dosing and less overall drug exposure.

(Also see "Avila Therapeutics Inc. " - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Okairos AG is developing genetic vaccines for viral and bacterial diseases using viral vectors derived from chimpanzees. In doing this, the company will have to overcome concerns about cross-species viral contagion, along with abiding safety questions resulting from gene therapy experiments utilizing viral vectors. But given the fact that vectors from human adenoviruses simply do not work well, Okairos believes it can show not only that its vectors are safer than those derived from human viruses, but also that treatments based on them can effectively stimulate a natural immune response capable of wiping out chronic infection.

(Also see "Okairos SRL" - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Viroblock SA is commercializing a solution of two ingredients "generally recognized as safe" that when combined appear to inactivate viruses. The company is looking to leverage a liquid mixture containing liposomes that act as vesicles to transport cyclodextrin, a chemical frequently harnessed for its ability to bond with hydrophobic substances. ViroBlock is betting it can use cyclodextrin to remove cholesterol from the "envelopes" of viruses that contain a lot of the fatty substance, and so render the pathogens incapable of infecting cells.

(Also see "Viroblock SA" - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Would-be creators of antiviral compounds usually aim to interfere with critical components of viral structure. Zirus Inc. is instead focusing on the host, seeking genes that human cells don't need to survive but which viruses do. The company plans to leverage the gene targets it identifies, first by screening existing drugs against them in hopes of finding anti-viral activity and eventually by designing new chemical entities.

(Also see "Zirus Inc." - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Start-Ups Across Health Care

Instead of relying on a conventional, hospital-based whole body CT scan for cardiac imaging, cardiologists could someday have a smaller, lighter, and less expensive CT system in their own offices. [Arineta Ltd.] is developing a dedicated cardiovascular device that is designed to offer the image quality of standard CT while delivering just 50 to 80% of the radiation dose. The technology should cost 40% less than standard systems and occupy approximately 60% less space.

(Also see "Arineta Ltd." - Medtech Insight, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Only 10% of compounds that enter Phase I trials survive to FDA approval, and that has a lot to do with the inadequacy of early-stage research in cell lines. They are poor predictors of what will happen in animal models, much less in patients. The problem stems in part from the fact that cells, once removed from an organism and maintained artificially in a laboratory environment, change their behavior and phenotype in equally artificial ways, which in turn warp their response to drug candidates. HemoShear LLC's technology simulates a cell's natural environment by introducing hemodynamic blood flow and the accompanying shear stresses. Its first system focuses on blood vessels.

(Also see "HemoShear LLC" - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)

For people with diabetes, lack of glycemic control often leads to serious health complications affecting the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nervous system. An urgent need exists for a simple and cost-effective way to support insulin therapy, mainly for people with type 2 diabetes, in between physician check-ups. Start-up Hygieia Inc. plans on addressing this need in a big way with its patient- and clinician-friendly Diabetes Insulin Guidance System ( DIGS), designed to replace commonly used glucose meters that simply reveal blood sugar readings. In addition to monitoring glucose levels, DIGS also provides patients with a recommendation for each insulin dose.

(Also see "Hygieia Inc. " - Medtech Insight, 1 Nov, 2010.)

Osteomyelitis is a difficult-to-treat, deep-seated infection that occurs inside bone. The standard of care for treating it has not changed over the past half century: long-term intravenous antibiotics with multiple agents and doses administered daily and typically lasting a full 12 weeks, followed by oral medications for an additional several months to a year. Silver Bullet Therapeutics Inc. is developing a temporary, implantable silver-eluting implant to fight infection in tandem with IV antibiotics. The company's founders say it should shorten the duration of IV therapy by half.

(Also see "Silver Bullet Therapeutics Inc." - Scrip, 1 Nov, 2010.)