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news.Prolor Biotech, a biopharmaceutical company, has reported that the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) has approved a 2010 continuation of its grant to its Israeli-based R&D subsidiary for the company's development program for interferon-beta-1a-CTP (IFN-Beta-CTP), its longer-acting version of interferon-beta-1a (IFN-Beta).
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IFN-Beta, which is indicated for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), is currently marketed by Merck Serono as Rebif and by Biogen Idec as Avonex.
Prolor Biotech has recently reported positive results from a study in primates comparing Prolor’s CTP-modified IFN-Beta with commercially available IFN-Beta. The study showed that in primates, Prolor’s CTP-modified IFN-Beta had 13 times greater durability (half-life) and 55 times greater overall drug exposure (AUC) compared to commercially available IFN-Beta. IFN-Beta-CTP also demonstrated strong biological potency as measured by several well-validated biomarkers.
Prolor Biotech said that based on the results of the comparative study, the OCS has approved a special continuation grant to support Prolor’s IFN-Beta-CTP program for 2010. The grant is expected to provide cash reimbursements for approximately 35% of the estimated $1.5m in expenses expected to be paid for IFN-Beta-CTP product development during 2010.
As per the terms of the grant, Prolor is required to repay the OCS the sum of the grant plus accrued interest through a series of payments that would begin only when the IFN-Beta-CTP product or other products that Prolor develops with its CTP technology begin to generate commercial revenues.
Abraham Havron, CEO at Prolor, said: “This generous continuation grant from the OCS is an important non-dilutive cash resource for Prolor’s IFN-Beta-CTP development program, and we believe that it represents another validation of the potential of our CTP technology. Going forward, we also hope to obtain an average of 35% cash reimbursements from the OCS for our IFN-Beta-CTP development expenses in 2011 and 2012.
“This visionary program is particularly attractive for Prolor because the grants are repaid only upon the generation of commercial revenue from IFN-Beta-CTP or our other CTP-based products. We are grateful for this valuable source of non-dilutive capital.”