May 9, 2011 - Theralpha Announces Collaboration and Business Agreement with Flamel Technologies to develop controlled-release formulation of analgesic peptide - Theralpha SAS announced that it has entered into a joint development program with Flamel Technologies (NASD: FLML) for a Medusa®-enabled, long-acting formulation of Theralpha’s THA-902. THA902 is a natural peptide that is a potent and highly specific Acid Sensing Ion Channel 3 (ASIC 3) inhibitor. It is effective in inflammatory pain animal models following subcutaneous injection and has a number of possible indications, including post-operative pain, osteoarthritis pain and fibromyalgia. The development agreement has been structured to leverage Theralpha’s pioneering intellectual property regarding Acid Sensing Ion Channels (ASICs) and Flamel’s expertise in creating fully bioactive long-acting formulations of peptides, proteins, and other biologics.The compound to be developed, THA902 XL, is a Medusa-based controlled-release formulation of THA 902. Flamel Technologies will be responsible for formulation chemistry with the objective to potentially improve tolerability and dosing, by reducing administration frequency, and consequently, allowing better patient compliance. Theralpha will be responsible for pre-clinical testing of THA902 XL pharmacodynamics...
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...About Theralpha
Theralpha SAS is a product development-oriented company, focusing on preclinical and clinical development of new pain therapeutics. Theralpha drug candidates originate from worldwide exclusive licenses from IPMC (Institut de Pharmacologie Moleculaire, CNRS, Sophia Antipolis, France) based on research made by Professor Michel Lazdunski and his team who have pioneered the discovery of peptides found in animal venoms that selectively inhibit Acid Sensing Ion Channels (ASICs) which are directly implicated in pain signal transmission. Theralpha is also developing an analgesic venom derived peptide generated at Protherapeutics, a National University of Singapore (NUS) spin-off, and licensed worldwide to Theralpha.
About Flamel Technologies
Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ: FLML) is a leading drug delivery company focused on the goal of developing safer, more efficacious formulations of drugs that adress unmet medical needs. Its product development pipeline includes biological and chemical drugs formulated with the Medusa® and Micropump® proprietary platforms. Several Medusabased products are at various clinical stages of development; Medusa’s lead internal product candidate IFN-α XL (long-acting interferon alpha-2b) is currently the subject of a Phase 2 trial in HCV patients. The Company's has developed FDA- and EMA-approved products and manufacture Micropump-based microparticles. Flamel Technologies has collaborations with a number of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline (Coreg CR®, carvedilol phosphate), Merck Serono and Pfizer... [PDF] Theralpha's Press Release -
