The study of the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DP-IV) inhibitor, PSN9301, will enroll approximately 60 patients into a two-week in-house dosing and monitoring protocol which will be conducted in Berlin, Germany.
The development of inhibitors of DP-IV, an enzyme catalyzing the breakdown of the natural hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), has become a very competitive area in the type 2 diabetes field. PSN9301 is designed to prevent the breakdown of GLP-1 in the period following meals where the need to reduce blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetic patients is most critical.
“We believe that PSN9301 provides us with a differentiated and competitive agent in the DP-IV arena,” stated Dr Anker Lundemose, CEO of Prosidion. “This study will allow us to continue the optimization of PSN9301 use in preparation for more comprehensive phase II and phase III studies.”
Prosidion acquired the DP-IV technology platform from Probiodrug AG in June 2004. In addition to PSN9301, the platform comprises of a portfolio of DP-IV medical use patents. These include issued and licensed patents and pending patent applications, with claims covering DP-IV as a target and the use of combinations of DP-IV inhibitors with other oral anti-diabetes drugs, such as metformin.
Three non-exclusive license agreements to the patent estate were also acquired. Prosidion expects to grant additional non-exclusive licenses in the future.
During 2004, OSI stepped up its financing of the Prosidion subsidiary considerably. Following the investment of $10 million into Prosidion by OSI in April 2004 and $50 million invested in June 2004, OSI invested a further $25 million in September 2004 to fully fund all programs in Prosidion. As a result of these investments, OSI owns approximately 97% of issued share capital in Prosidion.
Prosidion has expanded to approximately 70 full-time employees and occupies OSI’s UK research facility, following OSI’s decision in August 2004 to consolidate its cancer R&D activities in the US.