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Vectura and Arakis collaborate to develop a novel inhaled treatment for COPD


29 Nov 2000

Vectura and Arakis collaborate to develop a novel inhaled treatment for COPD

Vectura Ltd ("Vectura"), a world leader in the application of particle engineering to novel drug delivery systems, and Arakis Ltd ("Arakis"), the Performance Enhanced Medicine (PEM) company, today announced a major collaboration to develop a novel inhaled treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, NVA237. The companies will fund development of the product jointly and will share equally commercial returns from the programme.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) comprises a set of smoking related respiratory diseases including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is characterised by chronic obstruction of the flow of air through the airways and out of the lungs. The disease is a major killer, and affects 6.5% of the population in industrialised countries. Amongst a range of treatments, inhaled bronchodilators are usually included in first line therapy but often suffer from insufficient duration of action.

NVA237 exploits the bronchodilation properties of a drug marketed for an entirely different indication and, in an optimised inhaled formulation, offers a long acting profile well suited to COPD therapy. Its receptor binding profile along with initial clinical data indicate that NVA237 has the potential to become the leading bronchodilator used in COPD because of its superior potency and longevity of action.

Both Arakis and Vectura will contribute proprietary intellectual property and know-how to the venture. Arakis will provide the initial NVA237 intellectual property along with preclinical and clinical development expertise. Vectura will contribute its proprietary inhalation drug delivery technology and expertise, and will perform all activities associated with formulation development. The companies believe that by combining their complementary areas of expertise, it will be possible to develop a major new product for the treatment of COPD.

Formulation development will be initiated immediately, with first clinical studies anticipated in the third quarter of 2001.

"COPD is one of the leading causes of death in the industrialised world and its successful treatment will require a combination of pharmacological approaches tailored to individual patients. Bronchodilation will remain an important therapy component and we believe with NVA237 that we have a promising product profile " said Dr Andy Richards, Chief Executive Officer of Arakis Ltd. "Arakis seeks to co-develop its PEM products with strategic technology providers and we are delighted that Vectura are now the second such partner for Arakis thus validating our business development model."

Peter Virley, Chief Executive Officer of Vectura Ltd. said "There are unique challenges in optimally delivering inhaled products to the lungs of COPD patients. Vectura already has a proven track record in providing commercially successful drug delivery solutions to difficult formulation challenges. We believe that our proprietary particle engineering technologies give us an important edge in addressing such challenges and we are pleased to apply these to a product with the potential of NVA237."

Note to Editors

Vectura (www.vectura.co.uk) is a fast-growing drug delivery company specialising in the application of its core expertise in particle science to the development of unique technology platforms and enhanced-performance products of high commercial value. The company already has an established reputation as a leading European provider of innovative inhaler formulations for pulmonary delivery.

The company's Research and Development team is developing a range of unique, patent-protected drug delivery technology platforms, both in the pulmonary and other market sectors. These technology platforms will be designed to deliver drugs in a more cost-effective manner, thus enabling better life-cycle management opportunities for pharmaceutical companies as well as better treatment outcomes and greater satisfaction for patients.

Vectura has targeted specific product development opportunities in areas of high market potential where the company can create a clear competitive edge from its technology and know-how in pulmonary delivery. These include opportunities in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in pain management and in the systemic delivery of inhaled macromolecules, such as insulin.

Vectura employs over 100 people at its Chippenham site. Its major shareholders are the Merlin Fund L.P., the University of Bath and its management.

Arakis Ltd Arakis (www.arakis.com) is an emerging pharmaceutical company, founded in January 2000 to develop and commercialise innovative market orientated, therapeutic products - which are termed Performance Enhanced Medicines (PEMs). Arakis is exploiting advances in the understanding of disease biology alongside a novel product development approach to generate a wave of new therapies that are suited to patient needs and which are ever more relevant as trends in healthcare lead towards "personalised medicine".

PEMs are new therapies tailored to poorly treated conditions and dissatisfied patient groups. They arise from applying new insights from medical science applied to known drugs, which then are enhanced by combined technology approaches to deliver medical benefits. Combining known technologies in this way produces four main advantages. First the medical benefits that are produced are more than additive and lead to selective medicines, second strong and broad patent protection can be gained, third a ready source of co-development alliance partners - the technology providers - is available and finally they provide an opportunity for rapid and lower risk development. The technologies that Arakis utilises include:

  1. advances in pharmacology that implicate new uses for known drugs
  2. patient genotyping and metabolic profiling, to select specific populations in which a drug will be particularly effective,
  3. combinations of actives with synergistic actions,
  4. the use of isomers or metabolites of known entities,
  5. chronotherapy and
  6. formulation utilising drug delivery technology targeted for intended use.

For further information please contact:

For Arakis
Ali Quarmby Tel: +44 (0)1223 496070
Fax: +44 (0)1223 496071
Email: aliquarmby@arakis.com

Vectura Limited
Peter Virley
Tel: +44 (0)1249 667700
Fax: +44 (0)1249 667701
Email: enquiries@vectura.com

Financial Dynamics
David Yates / Lucy Briggs
Tel: + 44 (0) 207 269 7242

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