17th Oct 2005 07:30
Vectura Group PLC17 October 2005 ARAKIS AND VECTURA ANNOUNCE START OF PHASE IIb TRIAL OF NVA237 FOR COPD Tokyo, Japan/Little Chesterford, UK & Chippenham, UK - 17 October 2005: ArakisLtd. ("Arakis"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the biopharmaceutical companySosei Co. Ltd. ("Sosei"; TSE Mothers Index: 4565), and Vectura Group plc ("Vectura"; LSE: VEC) announced today that their collaborative product, NVA237(formerly AD 237), a novel inhaled once daily treatment for chronic obstructivepulmonary disease (COPD), has entered a Phase IIb multiple dose-ranging clinicaltrial. NVA237 is being developed and commercialised by Novartis both as amonotherapy and in combination with their once daily bronchodilator indacaterol(QAB149), under the terms of the agreement signed in April 2005. The study is a randomised, double-blind, multi-centre, placebo-controlled trialdesigned to evaluate the efficacy, safety and dose response of NVA237 inpatients diagnosed with COPD over a four week period. COPD, the world's fourth largest cause of death, is a chronic obstruction of theairways which is caused primarily by smoking. It is estimated that the diseaseis prevalent in 4% of the populations of the USA, Europe and Japan and that atleast 15% of smokers will go on to develop the disease. Symptoms includechronic bronchitis and emphysema or both conditions, which slowly progress andeventually lead to a largely irreversible loss of lung function. The currentmarket for COPD drug therapy is estimated to be worth $4 billion per annum andis predicted to grow to $10 billion by 2010. Mr Shinichi Tamura, President & CEO of Sosei, said: "COPD is increasingly beingrecognised as a common and costly disease with high patient unmet need. Thecommencement of the Phase IIb trial represents a further important step invalidating the clinical profile of NVA237, which we believe to be a verypromising product with the potential to improve upon existing therapies". Dr Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive of Vectura, added: "The momentum for theclinical development of NVA237 also underpins the development of the NVA237/indacaterol combination product that we believe will play a major role in thefuture treatment of COPD. We are delighted to be able to announce the start ofthe Phase IIb programme". Enquiries: Sosei Co. Ltd. Tel +44 (0)20 7691 2086 or +44 (0)1799 532350Dr Julian Gilbert, Group Director, Commercial & StrategicDevelopment Arakis Ltd. Tel +44 (0)1799 532350Dr Robin Bannister, Managing DirectorVectura Group plc Tel +44 (0)1249 667700Dr Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive Financial Dynamics Tel: + 44 (0)207 831 3113Julia Phillips/Sarah MacLeod Notes for Editors: About Sosei Sosei Co. Ltd., founded in 1990 by Shinichi Tamura, the former CEO of GenentechJapan, is a leading Japanese biopharmaceutical company with significantexpertise in drug development. It enriches its core product pipeline byin-licensing compounds from Western and Japanese companies, by its distinctiveDrug Reprofiling Platform(R) (DRP(R)) and through new molecular entity (NME)research programmes in collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies anduniversities both in Japan and the West. Sosei is also developing its own sales and marketing organisation in Japan. Thecompany is capitalising on its extensive global network established over thepast 10 years in its successful technology transfer business. Sosei acquired Arakis in August 2005. For further information about Sosei,please visit www.sosei.com. About Arakis Arakis is a UK based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops andcommercialises innovative medicinal products based on established drugs and drugtemplates. Its main therapeutic areas are inflammatory disease and pain. In addition to NVA237, Arakis has three other products in clinical development:AD 452 for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which has completed Phase IIa trials, andAD 337 for fibromyalgia syndrome and AD 923 for cancer breakthrough pain (CBP)which are both in Phase I. In addition, there is a preclinical pipeline ofother opportunities, two exploratory developments and a number of researchprojects. About Vectura Vectura's (LSE: VEC) principal focus is to combine its proprietary pulmonaryformulation and device technologies with existing, off-patent drugs to developinhaled drugs for the treatment of both lung diseases and conditions wheredelivery via the lungs can provide significant benefits, such as a rapid onsetof action, improved efficacy and improved tolerability compared with currenttherapies. The Company will seek to license its lead products to pharmaceutical companieswith established sales and marketing infrastructures for the later stages ofdevelopment and for commercialisation, typically prior to Phase III clinicaldevelopment. The Company has development collaborations with a number ofcompanies, including GSK, Chiesi and Arakis. For further information, pleasevisit Vectura's website at www.vectura.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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