Potentia Pharmaceuticals, a
privately held biotechnology company developing medicines for the treatment
of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) announced that the
Company's leading drug candidate, POT-4, has shown early positive safety
results in its Phase I study. POT-4 is a complement inhibitor, which shuts
down the complement activation cascade that could otherwise lead to local
inflammation, tissue damage and upregulation of angiogenic factors such as
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Based on this mechanism of
action, POT-4 holds the potential to be effective against both dry and wet
AMD.
"POT-4 has generated encouraging safety and tolerability data in this
Phase I study and holds significant promise as a novel agent for treating
AMD; a debilitating condition for which there is no cure," said Cedric
Francois, President and CEO of Potentia. "As a result of the favorable
early data, it was decided to expand the trial to permit further dose
escalation, with the goal of prolonging the pharmacological benefit from
POT-4. Potentia looks forward to the presentation of the Phase I data at a
future medical conference and, with additional information gained from the
extension of the study, to the initiation of Phase II trials in the
future."
About AMD
AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly of the western
world and affects more than 10 million patients in the United States alone.
The current standard of care for AMD relies primarily on angiogenesis
inhibitors, an approach geared towards the approximately 10-15% of AMD
patients with complications resulting from ocular angiogenesis (growth of
new blood vessels and bleeding in the back of the eye). No drug currently
on the market has been approved for the treatment of the remaining
patients, who suffer from the so-called "dry" form of the disease.
About the Complement System and POT 4
Complement activation is an inflammatory process involving dozens of
plasma proteins, ultimately leading to cell membrane disruption through the
membrane attack complex (MAC). Activation of the complement system is an
important part of the body's defensive immune response against pathogens
such as bacteria and viruses. In spite of its defensive function,
inappropriate or excessive complement activation can have destructive
consequences if left unchecked. Over the past three years, multiple
scientific publications have strongly linked variants of genes encoding
components of the complement system with a predisposition toward AMD.
POT-4 binds tightly to complement component C3, preventing its
participation in the complement activation cascade. As C3 is the central
component of all major complement activation pathways, its inhibition
effectively shuts down downstream complement activation that could
otherwise lead to local inflammation, tissue damage and upregulation of
angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF).
About Potentia
Potentia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an early stage biotechnology company
focused on developing novel therapeutics and drug delivery technologies to
address chronic inflammatory diseases, with an initial emphasis on diseases
of the eye such as age-related macular degeneration.
Potentia Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
http://www.potentiapharma.com
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