Posted: 23-Apr-2007 << BACK
PHYNOVA
In an AGM statement, the developer of pharmaceuticals derived from Chinese botanical medicines said the Phase IIa trial for its PYN17 drug candidate for chronic hepatitis C will start shortly at five US centres, while clinical testing of PYN22, a compound for treatment of obesity and fatty liver, will start by the end of this year. The company added that it will pursue trials of its PYN18 antiviral candidate for hepatitis C and other potential RNA virus targets.
PYN17, Phynovas lead candidate for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C, received FDA approval in January for the start of its Phase IIa clinical trial in the USA. This strongly endorses Phynovas business model that botanical-derived products can be taken through the drug development and approval process in substantially less time than for conventional drugs and at a much lower cost. The trial will commence shortly at five US centres. Over 4 million Americans are currently believed to be infected with hepatitis C and three quarters of these will develop chronic liver disease in which the liver injury persists for a prolonged period, if not for life. PYN17 uniquely provides symptomatic relief for patients with liver inflammation, an area of significant unmet need because of the recognised toxicity of current antiviral treatments.
Phynovas PYN18 is an antiviral in development for hepatitis C. Phynova expects PYN18 to have a better benefit-to-risk ratio than existing treatments. Strategies for treating hepatitis C increasingly involve combinations of drugs and Phynova believes that PYN18 will be used alongside existing treatments to enhance their effectiveness. Phynova has also shown in vitro that PYN18 is active against dengue virus, the causative agent of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, a common and serious tropical disease that is endemic in much of Asia, and the Company will be pursuing this indication in addition to hepatitis C and other potential RNA virus targets..phynova.com/default.asp
About Phynova
Phynova was founded in July of 2002 to develop drugs that satisfy unmet therapeutic needs in areas such as: infectious disease, metabolic disease and cancer. The Company's headquarters are located in Blenheim Office Park in Oxford
Phynova is developing Drug Candidates which are mainly derived from botanical medicines and have proved effective and safe in clinical use in China. The Chinese have been using botanical medicines for thousands of years and over that time have built up a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the medicinal use of plants. In a number of areas these medicines are used in China in circumstances where there is an unmet therapeutic need in the West. Since all of Phynova's Drug Candidates are derived from plants, its drugs will be produced from sustainable resources.
Plants are an important source for the discovery of novel pharmacologically-active compounds, with many of today's major drugs being derived directly or indirectly from plants. Examples include:
Aspirin, based on salicin, a compound obtained from the bark of the willow tree;
Taxol, a cancer drug derived from yew trees;
Digoxin, a drug used to treat heart disease which is derived from foxgloves; and
Artemether, an anti-malaria drug derived from a Chinese medicinal herb, Artemesia.
Phynova has developed relationships with researchers and government agencies in China and built its own expertise in Chinese medicinal plants and Western drug development. Through its contacts with researchers in China, Phynova has obtained access to Chinese research data and it has licensed-in Drug Candidates for development and sale in Western markets. It's management is made up of a number of scientists from China and major Western pharmaceutical companies, who collectively have many years of experience of drug development in both China and the West. The Company has a number of collaborations with highly regarded research institutions in Europe and China.
