Transition Therapeutics .....Emerging Drug Develop
Another article about Transition......2nd one in a couple weeks.
NOTE: Interesting to note however that when Transition moves ANYTHING into Phasel's that will be considered as a Material Event by virtue of the Canadian Listing on the TSX and MUST be disclosed immediately to the public. This article quotes Dr. Cruz as saying ......"“We have some in our pipeline, but we only divulge them when we are ready to move them into a partnership.” ......which isn't correct and was probably taken out of context because as we all know if a partner isn't found until ....lets say .....starting the Phasell's, the drug would have had to be announced as advancing into the Phasel's.
Otherwise a pretty good article.
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https://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/emerging-drug-developer-transition-therapeutics
Transition Therapeutics reaches a turning point
Nearly ten years after launching Transition Therapeutics, veteran entrepreneur and scientist Dr. Tony Cruz is under no illusions about his biotech business model. He likes to find new molecules that have the potential to make a significant impact on a big-market disease, bring it into mid-stage trials and partner up with a pharma company that’s already big in the same space.
That’s what he did with Elan for a therapy that offers a new way to destroy beta amyloid--a key target for Alzheimer’s. And it’s the same kind of deal he’s just completed with Eli Lilly, pocketing $7 million up front and lining up $130 million more in milestones for a novel therapy targeted at diabetes.
Researchers from both Transition and Lilly will collaborate on a mid-stage trial of Transition’s TT-223, after which Lilly takes over development responsibilities. They’re following up on research that indicates that gastrin analogues--either alone or in combination with existing therapies--could play a key role in sustained glucose control for type 2 diabetes patients.
“If you provide gastrin to an animal that has lost the ability to produce insulin, all of a sudden these cells light up, producing lots of insulin,” says Cruz. “It stimulates cells to re-differentiate back into insulin-producing cells.”
TT-223 has all the earmarks of a potential hit, which is just what Cruz is aiming for.
“To be honest,” he says, “we go for big markets.”
For a company like the Toronto-based Transition, it makes a lot of sense to study new molecules in the early stages before signing up with a partner.
“The next level requires a partnership, unless you decide to take it all the way,” says Cruz. “And small disease indications and me-too products won’t attract the returns you need to be successful.”
That same strategy led Cruz to Transition’s potential new therapy for Alzheimer’s.
“It was sitting on a shelf, looking for money to help develop it. We provided the management team and money to initiate development,” he adds. “We took it to the level needed to understand its mechanism, and we purchased the rest of the company. We have a drug discovery group that discovers their own molecules. Alzheimer’s was actually something that was brought to us.”
That’s not unusual for Cruz, a former senior scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital with a host of friends who know of interesting molecules that are awaiting development.
“I have good friends bring me new technologies,” says the CEO.
There are other early stage programs underway at the company, but Cruz is keeping them under wraps.
“We have some in our pipeline, but we only divulge them when we are ready to move them into a partnership.” It’s a much more fruitful way to pursue drug discovery, he says, preferring to avoid the “hit and miss” fate that awaits any fledgling program. Once you know you have the kind of efficacy and safety data that shows you’re onto something, you can make it public and start courting collaborators--or let them court Transition.
With the company’s 10th anniversary just months away, Cruz admits to a slight frustration that Transition isn’t more fully developed. But, on the other hand, he’s not unhappy with the biotech’s current position.
“We started this company really as a shell company to put technology into,” says Cruz. As he launched it at the same time as two other companies, it took more time for Transition to gather steam. Now Cruz is devoting all of his time to Transition.
It could be that his company could reveal another compound this year, but he’s not certain and isn’t willing to speculate about his chances.
For now, there’s plenty to preoccupy him. Enrollment on a 340-patient trial in Alzheimer’s got underway last December. There’s another Phase II trial being planned for pre-Alzheimer’s, a logical market to look at as researchers probe for new technologies to identify the disease reliably at an earlier stage.
Studies showed early on that the therapy not only breaks down aggregates of beta amyloid, it also demonstrates an ability to prevent them from forming in the first place, indicating that Transition’s drug could eventually be approved to prevent the disease.
In the meantime, Cruz doesn’t rule out adding a new therapy to the pipeline.
“If there’s one out there that really looks promising, absolutely, we’re not afraid to bring it in.”
So long, of course, as it can offer to make a significant opportunity in a big disease category.
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Seems Dr. Cruz is keeping his promise made last year of not divulging anything about ANY Pre-Clinicals until advancing them into Phasel's.........but we all know whats in the works now don't we!! LOL!!