Verseon Developing Oral Treatment for Hereditary Angioedema
26 September 2017 - 11:56PM
Business Wire
- Drug candidates show good exposure
suitable for oral dosing
- Reduced swelling observed in the
standard preclinical disease model for HAE
Verseon has announced the launch of a drug program developing
oral treatments for hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare,
life-threatening genetic disease. In their interim report published
yesterday, the Company presented data from a well-established HAE
disease model which demonstrate the efficacy of their plasma
kallikrein inhibitors in reducing swelling.
HAE is a rare genetic condition affecting approximately 1 in
every 50,000 people. The disease is caused by low levels or
improper function of C1 inhibitor, a serine protease inhibitor
needed to regulate vasodilation and edema. As a result, HAE
patients suffer from recurring episodes of severe swelling (edema),
which can affect the face, extremities, intestinal tract, and
airways. Upper airway edema is considered especially dangerous and
can even be life-threatening.
An oral therapeutic would be a life-changing development for HAE
patients who currently rely on treatments administered via
intravenous or subcutaneous injections. Verseon is building on
expertise established in its diabetic macular edema program to
develop small-molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitors suitable for
oral dosing. Plasma kallikrein is an established target central to
the HAE disease pathway, which is used in existing HAE treatments,
including Shire’s injectable HAE drug Kalbitor®.
Verseon has developed a range of plasma kallikrein inhibitors
using its computationally driven drug discovery platform. Many of
these inhibitors have demonstrated good oral pharmacokinetic
exposure, which is critical for convenient once-a-day oral dosing.
In their interim report, Verseon presented data on a lead candidate
that reduces swelling with efficacy comparable to a positive
control in a carrageenan-induced paw edema model, a standard
preclinical model for HAE.
Dr. David Kita, Vice President of R&D at Verseon, commented,
“We are excited about the promising preclinical results for our
hereditary angioedema candidates. We are continuing to optimize our
drug candidates for oral bioavailability, efficacy, and safety to
develop an effective and convenient treatment, which has the
potential to change the standard of care for HAE patients.”
In the interim report, Verseon also presented substantial
progress on its other drug programs. The Company is finalizing
phase I preparations for the first development candidate in its
anticoagulation program and has recently presented promising
efficacy results in their diabetic macular edema program. A copy of
the full interim report can be found here.
About Verseon
Verseon Corporation (www.verseon.com, AIM: VSN) is a
technology-based pharmaceutical company that employs its
proprietary, computational drug discovery platform to develop novel
therapeutics that are unlikely to be found using conventional
methods. The Company is applying its platform to a growing drug
pipeline and currently has four active drug programs in the areas
of anticoagulation, diabetic macular edema, hereditary angioedema,
and oncology.
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For further information please contact:Verseon
Corporation—Tina Schlafly+1 (510) 225 9000www.verseon.comorFor
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Roberts—Simon Vane Percy+44 (0) 1737 821 890
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