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Tacere Therapeutics Secures Financing And Resumes Development Of RNAi Hepatitis C Drug
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13 Oct 2006 - 0:00am (PDT)
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
lead therapeutic compound is TT-033i, an RNA interference (RNAi) drug for the treatment of Hepatitis C.
Tacere Therapeutics, Inc., an innovative biotechnology company specializing in the development of both traditional and novel therapeutics to treat serious infectious diseases, announced today that the company has secured an undisclosed amount of seed financing from Hokkaido Venture Capital, and has thus established operations and resumed preclinical development of TT-033i, its lead candidate for the treatment of Hepatitis C (HCV).
Sara Cunningham Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tacere, stated, "As pioneers in RNA interference (RNAi) we are pleased to resume development of TT-033i, a drug that we have taken from concept to preclinical studies over the last several years. Initiated at Avocel, Inc. and furthered at Benitec Ltd., our expertise in Hepatitis C and RNAi allows Tacere to begin corporate life with a great deal of experience and a competitively staged clinical program.
"The company will also capitalize on its extensive knowledge of HCV to advance a number of novel small molecule compounds for the treatment of this viral disease. Broader market acceptance and lower regulatory hurdles continue to drive the development of small molecule antivirals. However, the emergence of RNAi as a legitimate therapeutic modality offers a powerful new approach to treating HCV. We look forward to returning to the forefront of this exciting technology."
Mike Catelani, Chairman, Senior Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer of Tacere, remarked, "It's not often that one has the opportunity to take the best of a technology and implement it anew in a sound and well-supported corporate structure. Tacere recently exclusively in-licensed from Benitec Ltd. the RNAi drug development program that this team has been advancing toward the clinic over the past four years. Tacere staff and management, with the support of a strong group of directors and scientific advisors, are well-positioned to move this program forward and meet the challenges of developing both traditional and novel therapeutics."
Tacere was founded by Mike Catelani, Sara Cunningham Hall, Dr. John Monahan, founder and former CEO of Avigen, Inc., and Dr. Amit Kumar, CEO of CombiMatrix Corporation. Scientific advisors of Tacere include notable scientists and clinicians, Dr. Paul Pockros, Director of the Liver Disease Center and Scripps Clinic Research Consortium, Dr. Robert Lanford, Scientist at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and the Southwest National Primate Research Center, and Dr. Jonathan Coates, Founder and Chief Scientific Offer of Avexa Ltd.
About Tacere Therapeutics, Inc.
Tacere is an innovative biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics to treat serious infectious diseases using its proprietary knowledge in the screening and development of both novel and traditional compounds. Tacere is located in San Jose, California, USA. Its lead therapeutic compound is TT-033i, an RNA interference (RNAi) drug for the treatment of Hepatitis C. For additional information, please visit http://www.tacerebio.com.
About Hokkaido Venture Capital
Hokkaido Venture Capital, the first venture capital firm in Japan with regional specialization operating outside big financial institutions or Keiretsu, focuses primarily on investment in technology-driven companies such as IT, biotechnology, and healthcare. For additional information, please visit
http://www.hokkaido-vc.com/english/hvc/index.html.
The figure (above) demonstrates the ability of TT-033i to target and inhibit three separate regions of the HCV virus itself simultaneously in mice for more than two months after a single administration.
The three bars represent the three regions targeted by the drug; percent inhibition is normalized to negative control (baseline) and represents total reduction in a readily detectable reporter fused to HCV sequences.
Unlike small molecule drugs, RNAi allows you to target multiple regions of HCV simultaneously, making the therapeutic effective for a far more diverse patient population. Additionally, the multitargeting approach creates a "cocktail in one drug" similar to HIV drug regimens. Tacere founders pioneered the application of RNAi for infectious diseases and have developed a clinically relevant means of systemic delivery for TT-033i.
RNA interference is a natural mechanism that exists in every cell of the human body and can be redirected to silence genes and genetic elements, including viruses such as HCV. Unlike small molecule drugs, RNAi allows you to target multiple regions of HCV simultaneously, making the therapeutic effective for a far more diverse patient population. Additionally, the multi-targeting approach creates a "cocktail in one drug" similar to HIV drug regimens. Tacere founders pioneered the application of RNAi for infectious diseases and have developed a clinically relevant means of systemic delivery for TT-033i, a drug that has been advanced by this team from proof of concept to IND-enabling studies over the last several years and has now been exclusively in-licensed by Tacere.
While novel therapeutics will capture an ever-increasing market segment, the treatment of virtually all infectious disease is dominated by small molecules. Capitalizing on our expertise in HCV as a disease target, Tacere will simultaneously advance a number of small molecules to lead optimization and the clinic. The progression of these compounds will be via a strategic alliance with an infectious disease company which currently has an anti-HIV compound in Phase 2b clinical development. The compounds form two distinct mechanistic classes and were identified from the screening of two unrelated chemical libraries. One class targets the Hepatitis C virus RNA polymerase while the other class targets cellular components critical for viral replication. The use of viral polymerase inhibitors to inhibit viral replication is a well known antiviral mode of drug action e.g., the many nucleoside and non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors of HIV infection. The second set of compounds, initially identified by a top 10 pharmaceutical company, do not appear to inhibit HCV specified processes although they show significant potency and selectivity in inhibiting HCV replication. It is possible that, like other inhibitors of cellular factors required for viral replication, these could find utility in other fields and be out-licensed for indications other than HCV. The compounds in the AT-0sm portfolio will be optimized and developed using both in-house skills and experience and through the use of cost-effective contract laboratories.
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