Date: 2013-01-22
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor DEZ-001 (formerly TA-8995)
Company: Dezima Pharma (The Netherlands) Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (Japan)
Therapeutic area: Cardiovascular diseases
Type agreement: licensing
Action mechanism: The Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein (CETP) facilitates the transfer of cholesterol from HDL to other lipoproteins including LDL, in exchange for triglycerides. The CETP mediated transfer of cholesterol into LDL particles results into maturation of those LDL particles to more atherogenic LDL particles, which contribute to macrophage foam cell, and eventually plaque formation. Large Mendelian Randomization studies, epidemiological as well as preclinical studies have provided evidence for the notion that lower CETP activity is inversely related to cardiovascular mortality. In addition, reduced activity of CETP by pharmaceutical means or by naturally occurring mutations in the CETP gene results in increased HDL and decreased LDL levels. This provides a rationale for the inhibition of CETP activity as a therapeutic intervention in dyslipidemic conditions characterized by either low HDL or high LDL cholesterol.
Disease: dyslipidemia
Details: Dezima Pharma, a biotechnology company developing innovative drugs in the field of dyslipidemia, has announced the in-licensing of a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor DEZ-001 (formerly TA-8995) from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. DEZ-001 has completed single and multiple ascending dose studies showing an unprecedented effect on high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels in healthy volunteers with a very favourable side-effect profile. The company plans to support clinical development of DEZ-001 to Phase 3 clinical trials. Professor John Kastelein, founder of Dezima, co-founder of UniQure and advisor to Forbion Capital Partners, identified DEZ-001 as a potentially best-in-class, potent and safe CETP inhibitor. At the same time, Dezima also reported the strengthening of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with the addition of two world-leading experts in the dyslipidemia space: Dr Philip Barter, President of the International Atherosclerosis Society and Conjoint Professor at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and Dr Bryan Brewer, Director at Washington Cardiovascular Associates and Senior Research Consultant of Lipoprotein and Atherosclerosis Research at the Medstar Research Institute, Washington DC, USA.
Dezima Pharma was founded in 2012 by Prof. John Kastelein, Professor of Medicine at the Department of Vascular Medicine at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and seed-financed by Forbion Capital Partners and BioGeneration Ventures, to develop novel products to treat dyslipidemic patients suffering from cardiovascular disease (CVD).
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