OXFORD, England, September 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Successful Completion of Biomedical Catalyst Programme 

Prosonix, an innovative speciality pharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of inhaled Respiratory Medicines by Design, announces that it has confirmed the potential of its Multi-component Particle™ (MCP™) Technology for creating novel inhaled, dual and triple fixed dose combination (FDC) therapies for respiratory diseases. The Company will use the information generated to advance one or more candidates into formal development studies in the coming months.

Prosonix' MCP™ Technology allows the combination of two or more active drug molecules in a pre-determined and constant ratio into a single drug-only particle, without the need for additional excipients. The resultant formulations thereof could facilitate for the first time the therapeutic labelled dose to be delivered precisely to the site of action in the lung in a targeted fashion from a single pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) or dry powder inhaler (DPI) device.

MCP™ based formulations created by Prosonix include optimally engineered dual and triple combinations of known drug products, including inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs). In addition, these uniquely engineered FDCs offer the potential for enhanced localised synergistic pharmacological effect, dose sparing and compliance, as well as administration via simple, cost-effective inhaler devices.

The announcement marks the successful conclusion of a comprehensive research programme led by Prosonix as part of a consortium including internationally recognised respiratory disease and drug inhalation experts: Professor Peter Barnes and Dr Omar Usmani at Imperial College London, Dr Ben Forbes at King's College London and Professor Rob Price at the University of Bath. The consortium was supported by a funding award from the Biomedical Catalyst, an integrated translational funding programme jointly operated by the UK Medical Research Council and the UK's innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board. The programme involved multiple aspects of manufacturability, in vitro and ex vivo testing, and the development of new biologically relevant models.

David Hipkiss, Prosonix' CEO, said: "We are delighted that the outcome of the Biomedical Catalyst programme has confirmed the potential of our MCP™ Technology as a basis for the development of cost-effective fixed dose combination therapies for respiratory diseases. Such combinations, in particular triple FDCs, are expected to become the mainstay of therapy in a large proportion of COPD patients over the coming years as they are anticipated to have important clinical, patient and payer benefits, being more convenient and more cost-effective than the current standard of care, which involves taking multiple medications from separate, often diverse, devices. We thank our collaborators for their valuable contributions to this project and we look forward to selecting candidates for formal development studies over the coming months."

About Prosonix          

http://www.prosonix.co.uk 

Prosonix is an innovative speciality pharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of inhaled Respiratory Medicines by Design. Its investors include Entrepreneurs Fund, Gilde Healthcare, Gimv, Quest for Growth, Solon Ventures and Ventech.

Prosonix' proprietary particle engineering technology enables it to design and engineer mono and combination drug particles that precisely meet the specific requirements for inhalation, delivering assured formulation performance using simple, cost-effective devices for a range of generic, super-generic and novel products.

Prosonix' pipeline focuses on near- and long-term opportunities, and is further complemented by a select number of partnered respiratory programmes. The in-house pipeline includes:

• PSX1001 and PSX1050, generic versions of GlaxoSmithKline's Flixotide®/Flovent® monotherapy containing fluticasone propionate (FP), a potent ICS, in development for asthma in pMDI; partnered with Mylan in certain territories,
• PSX2005, a generic version of GSK's Seretide® combination product consisting of FP and salmeterol xinafoate (SX) a long-acting beta agonist (LABA) in development for asthma and COPD in pMDI,
• PSX1002, a drug-only proprietary formulation of glycopyrronium bromide (GB), a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), currently in Phase 2 clinical studies for COPD in pMDI, and
• PSX MCP™ Series, novel dual and triple fixed dose combination products (ICS/LABA, ICS/LAMA, LABA/LAMA, and ICS/LABA/LAMA) designed specifically for respiratory diseases and based on the unique features and benefits of Prosonix proprietary Multi-component Particles™. MCPs™ do not require additional functional excipients, adjuvants, or co-suspension agents for optimal formulation performance from pMDI or Dry Powder Inhalers (DPI).

Additional partnered respiratory programmes include:

• PX1439, a generic version of GSK's Serevent® monotherapy (SX, LABA) in pMDI
• PX1442, a generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim's Spiriva® (tiotropium bromide, LAMA) in a capsule-based DPI.

Flixotide®, Flovent®, Seretide® and Serevent® are trademarks of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies. 

Spiriva® is a trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim. 

About Technology Strategy Board 

The Technology Strategy Board is the UK's innovation agency. Its goal is to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation. Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more information please visit http://www.innovateuk.org.

Catalysts are run jointly by the Technology Strategy Board and the Research Councils. A Catalyst is a form of research and development funding which focuses on a specific priority area and aims to help take projects from research to as close to commercial viability as possible. The Catalyst model supports projects in priority areas where the UK research base has a leading position and where there is clear commercial potential. Current Catalysts include: Biomedical Catalyst, Agri-tech Catalyst and the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. For more details please visit: https://www.innovateuk.org/-/catalysts  

SOURCE Prosonix