Clinical Trial Update
November 01 2010 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMEDG
RNS Number : 3372V
Medgenics Inc
01 November 2010
Medgenics, Inc.
('Medgenics' or the 'Company')
Patient reaches 2 years Anaemia Relief from Single Treatment in Clinical Trial
Results to be presented at the American Society of Nephrology Annual Convention
on Nov 19, 2010
New Biopumps now producing clotting Factor VIII protein for Haemophilia
treatment
Misgav, Israel and London, UK - November 1, 2010 - Medgenics, Inc. (AIM: MEDG,
MEDU), the company that has developed a novel technology for the manufacture and
delivery of therapeutic proteins continuously in patients using their own
tissue, is pleased to announce further positive progress in the Company's
ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial with EPODURE to treat anaemia, including the
treatment of additional patients with the middle dose range of continuously
produced erythropoietin ('EPO'). In addition, the Company announces that it has
succeeded in creating Biopumps producing Factor VIII in vitro. The Company views
this as further demonstration of the Biopump platform for producing a range of
therapeutic proteins.
The Company is pleased to report the following updates on the clinical trial,
platform development, and commercial partnering:
EPODURE Anaemia Clinical Trial
· 12 patients have now received their implanted EPODURE Biopumps in the
Company's Phase I/II clinical trial, with 5 receiving the dose level of (40
IU/kg/day), and 7 receiving the lower dose (20 IU/kg/day).
· One patient has been successfully treated for anaemia for a full 2 years
following his single low dose treatment with EPODURE Biopumps in 2008. His
haemoglobin levels have remained continuously within the target range of 10-12
g/dl throughout this period without any adverse events and without receiving any
EPO injections, whereas he was receiving frequent EPO injections before his
EPODURE treatment. (EPO injections are the current standard of care for anaemia
and are produced by recombinant DNA in rodent cell culture.)
· Another patient, whose haemoglobin level had responded positively to the
low dose of EPODURE, but only reached the low end of the target range of 10-12
g/dl, has just become the first patient to receive an additional administration
of low dose EPODURE Biopumps to increase haemoglobin level. This parallels
intended clinical use whereby, if there is insufficient haemoglobin response to
an initial dose of Biopumps, additional Biopumps would be administered to
further increase the haemoglobin level to reach the desired range. All previous
patients have received only a single administration of a fixed dose, without
possibility of subsequent increase. The Company views as a significant advance
the approval for and administration of a second dose of Biopumps in a patient,
and will be closely monitoring to see if this assists further haemoglobin
elevation.
· The latest results of the clinical trial are to be presented at the
annual convention of the American Society of Nephrology, one of the largest
meetings of nephrologists in the world, on November 19th. The presentation will
be given by, Prof. Anatole Besarab, of Ford Hospital, Detroit MI - a member of
the Company's Strategic Advisory Board and a leading authority in renal anaemia.
Factor VIII ("FVIII") Biopump for Haemophilia
Medgenics is also pleased to announce that Biopumps are now successfully
producing active clotting factor VIII protein: considered by many to be the
most challenging of proteins to produce in vitro. The Company views this as a
further confirmation of the Biopump Platform, with Factor VIII now joining EPO
and Interferon alpha as proteins continuously produced by Biopumps. The Company
is continuing development of its FVIII Biopump to further increase FVIII output
per Biopump to bring it to target levels thought sufficient to improve blood
clotting if they were administered to patients with haemophilia. If successful,
this would provide a unique and exciting new therapeutic option for haemophilic
patients which could make a major difference in their lives.
Medgenics is in advanced discussions with its pharmaceutical partner regarding
continuation of collaboration in development of Factor VIII Biopumps for the
treatment of haemophilia and will update the market as this moves forward.
Dr. Andrew Pearlman, CEO of Medgenics commented: "We are very pleased that one
of our patients has now passed his second anniversary free of EPO injections and
with his haemoglobin right in the target range, and all from a single treatment
with EPODURE in October 2008. We are further pleased that we have now treated
12 patients, including 5 who have received the mid-dose level, and look forward
to following their response in the coming months. We are further excited about
the presentation of our study by Prof Besarab at the upcoming major nephrology
conference. Last but not least, we are proud to announce that we have shown we
can make Biopumps producing clotting factor VIII for haemophilia, and look
forward to further improvements in output with continued collaboration with our
pharmaceutical partner."
Dr. Eugene Bauer, Chairman of Medgenics commented: "Progress continues on
Medgenics' EPODURE program. We are especially pleased that one patient has now
been treated for two years without additional intervention. Further, our
development program for haemophilia A has progressed to the point of
reproducible in vitro expression of active Factor VIII by our proprietary tissue
Biopumps, and we are hopeful that our continued development will advance the
performance to meet levels we need to give us confidence to move to a clinical
level program."
For further information, contact:
Andrew Pearlman +972 4 902 8900
CEO
Medgenics, Inc
Mike Wort / Anna Dunphy +44 207 861 3838
De Facto Communications (IR)
James Pinner / Derek Crowhurst +44 207 444 0800
Religare Capital Markets (Nomad)
Ian Callaway / Alex Mattey +44 207 638 5600
SVS Securities plc (Joint Broker)
Jonathan Senior +44 207 776 1219
Nomura Code (Joint Broker)
Leslie Wolf-Creutzfeldt +1 646 284 9472
Grayling (Investment Relations - US)
Notes to Editors:
Medgenics is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical Company, developing its unique
tissue-based Biopump platform technology to provide sustained-action protein
therapy for the treatment of a range of chronic diseases. The first revenue
generating commercial deal with a well known multinational pharmaceutical
company was concluded in late 2009.
Biopumps are made using 30 mm long tissue samples taken by needle biopsies from
the lower layer of the patient's skin under local anaesthetic, and processed
during 10-14 days to become "biofactories" producing the required protein. The
requisite number of Biopumps are injected under the patient's skin to provide
sustained protein production and delivery for many months. Dose can be reduced
by ablating one or more Biopumps, or increased by injecting additional units.
The Company is developing the Biopump to provide substantially greater safety
and reliability in protein treatment in a more cost effective manner than
offered by the existing injected protein therapies or current alternatives.
Medgenics currently has three products in development based on this technology,
addressing the indications of:
- Anaemia - using EPODURE, a Biopump
producing erythropoietin (EPO)
- Hepatitis-C - using INFRADURE, a Biopump producing interferon-alpha (IFN-a)
- Haemophilia - using a Biopump producing clotting Factor VIII
The Company's Phase I/II clinical trial using EPODURE to treat anaemia in
patients with chronic kidney disease has demonstrated proof of concept of the
Biopump. Designed to produce and deliver a therapeutic dose of EPO steadily for
six months or more, EPODURE Biopumps have already provided effective anaemia
treatment in most of the longest participating patients for 6-24 months, even at
the low administered dose.
Medgenics intends to develop its innovative products and bring them to market
via multiple strategic partnerships with major pharmaceutical and/or medical
device companies. In addition to treatments for anaemia, hepatitis-C and
haemophilia, Medgenics plans to develop and/or out-license a pipeline of future
Biopump products targeting the large and rapidly growing global protein therapy
market, which is forecast to reach US $95 billion by the end of 2010. Other
potential applications of Biopumps producing various proteins include multiple
sclerosis, arthritis, paediatric growth hormone deficiency, obesity, and
diabetes.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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