Lipoxen enters into agreement with Glide Pharma

 

TIDMLPX 
 
RNS Number : 1025P 
Lipoxen PLC 
19 March 2009 
 

Lipoxen PLC 
("Lipoxen" or "the Company") 
Lipoxen enters into agreement with Glide Pharma 
 
 
Collaboration to investigate delivery of SuliXen, Lipoxen's long-acting insulin 
candidate for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, using the Glide Solid Dose Injector 
technology 
 
 
London, UK, 19 March 2009 - Lipoxen PLC (AIM:LPX), a bio-pharmaceutical company 
specialising in the development of high value differentiated biologicals, 
vaccines and siRNA delivery, announces today that it has entered into an 
agreement with Glide Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing 
products based on its proprietary needle-free drug delivery technology, the 
Glide SDI[TM]. The agreement is to investigate the delivery of Lipoxen's 
long-acting proprietary insulin, SuliXen, which is a conjugate of insulin with 
polysialic acid, using the Glide SDI. 
 
 
SuliXen has already shown to be safe and well tolerated in a Phase I study and 
the long-acting formulation of SuliXen makes this approach very attractive for 
the administration of insulin. This needle-free injection could also be a key 
competitive advantage for SuliXen as it would meet the clear demand from 
patients and physicians for improved forms of insulin, which have, in 
particular, more patient convenience. 
 
 
Under the terms of the agreement Lipoxen will provide Glide Pharma with SuliXen 
which Glide Pharma will then incorporate into its proprietary Glide SDI, 
needle-free, drug delivery technology which offers the prospect of a safe, 
patient friendly, solution for the administration of drugs and vaccines. 
Financial details were not disclosed. 
 
 
M. Scott Maguire, CEO of Lipoxen, said: 
"We are delighted to be able to announce this collaboration with Glide Pharma. 
SuliXen's reduced dosing regime already suggests it has the potential to become 
a recognised competitor in the $12 billion insulin market. Couple this with a 
less invasive, easy to use, patient friendly delivery system, and we believe you 
have a product that may revolutionalise insulin treatment for patients and 
treating physicians in the future." 
 
 
"This transaction highlights our ability to execute collaboration deals with 
very real commercial potential. The needle-free delivery will open up a wide 
range of therapeutic options for our candidates and would provide further 
validation of the possible wide application of Lipoxen's proprietary PolyXen 
molecules. This is a very exciting time for Lipoxen, and its technologies, and I 
am confident this collaboration will produce additional value for shareholders." 
 
 
Dr Charles Potter, CEO of Glide Pharma, said: 
"We are very pleased to be collaborating with Lipoxen on a long-acting insulin 
product. With an estimated 170 million people worldwide suffering from diabetes 
this product could make a real impact on the management of diabetes in the 
future, particularly in type 2 diabetes." 
 
 
- ENDS - 
Enquiries - Lipoxen PLC 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| Lipoxen PLC                       |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| M. Scott Maguire, Chief Executive | [phone]                  | 
| Officer                           |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
|                                   |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| Glide Pharma                      | [phone]                 | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| Charles Potter, CEO               |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
|                                   |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| Teathers (nominated adviser)      |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| Claes Spång                       | [phone]                  | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
|                                   |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| Citigate Dewe Rogerson            | [phone]                  | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
| David Dible / Heather Keohane     |                                      | 
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ 
 
 
Notes to Editors on Lipoxen 
 
 
Lipoxen PLC (AIM:LPX) is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the 
development of high value differentiated biologicals, vaccines and oncology 
drugs based on its proprietary delivery platforms. Lipoxen's PolyXen delivery 
technology is designed to improve the stability, biological half-life and 
immunologic characteristics of therapeutic proteins naturally Lipoxen currently 
has two products in clinical development using PolyXen, SuliXen, a long acting 
insulin and ErepoXen a long-acting erythropoietin (EPO). Phase I results with 
these novel products have shown that they have potential to deliver important 
dosing advantages to product currently on the market. Both SuliXen and ErepoXen 
are addressing multi billion dollar markets. Further products under development 
include improved formulations of important biologicals such as G-CSF, and 
Interferon-alpha. 
 
 
Lipoxen has a second naturally-derived proprietary delivery technology, 
ImuXen[R] and a related liposomal technology for enhancing the efficacy and 
safety of various vaccines including multivalent Hepatitis B-E and pneumococcal 
vaccines . The Company's proprietary delivery technologies are attracting 
significant interest and Lipoxen is currently co-developing products with the 
Serum Institute of India Limited (one of the world's leading vaccine companies, 
India's largest biotech company and a major shareholder in Lipoxen) and has 
license agreements in place with Baxter International and Schering Plough . 
Lipoxen has received funding from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative 
(IAVI) to assess the potential of its ImuXen technology to develop an improved 
HIV vaccine. The Company is also working in collaboration on improved vaccine 
formulations that could be suitable for refrigeration free distribution, which 
would enable vaccines to be much more widely distributed to people in the 
developing world. 
 
 
Lipoxen was admitted to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange 
in January 2006.. 
www.lipoxen.com 
 
 
This announcement includes 'forward-looking statements' which include all 
statements other than statements of historical facts, including, without 
limitation, those regarding the Company's financial position, business strategy, 
plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development 
plans and objectives relating to the Company's products and services), and any 
statements preceded by, followed by or that include forward-looking terminology 
such as the words 'targets', 'believes', 'estimates', 'expects', 'aims', 
'intends', 'will', 'can', 'may', 'anticipates', 'would', 'should', 'could' or 
similar expressions or the negative thereof. Such forward-looking statements 
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors 
beyond the Company's control that could cause the actual results, performance or 
achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, 
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking 
statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions 
regarding the Company's present and future business strategies and the 
environment in which the Company will operate in the future. Among the important 
factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance or 
achievements to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements 
include those relating to The Company's funding requirements, regulatory 
approvals, clinical trials, reliance on third parties, intellectual property, 
key personnel and other factors. These forward-looking statements speak only as 
at the date of this announcement. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation 
or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking 
statements contained in this announcement to reflect any change in the Company's 
expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or 
circumstances on which any such statements are based. As a result of these 
factors, readers are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statement. 
 
Notes to Editors on Glide Pharma 
Glide Pharma is a specialty pharma company focused on easy, safe and convenient 
solid dose injection of therapeutics and vaccines. Using its proprietary Glide 
SDI[TM] (Solid Dose Injector) system, Glide Pharma is building a pipeline of 
in-house and partnered products covering small molecules, peptides, proteins and 
vaccines. Glide Pharma is currently engaged in six collaborations with 
pharmaceutical partners. 
 
 
The Glide SDI is an innovative needle-free drug delivery system that allows the 
injection of drugs, vaccines and other pharmaceutical ingredients in a solid 
dosage form.  The drug is formulated as a tiny pointed rod of pharmaceutical 
material that is pushed through the skin into the underlying tissue where it 
dissolves releasing the drug into the patient's bloodstream.  The Glide SDI 
comprises a reusable, spring powered actuator and a pre-filled, disposable drug 
cassette. The system is very easy to use making it ideal for the self 
administration of drugs in the home environment. In the clinic, volunteers 
overwhelmingly stated that they preferred an injection with the Glide SDI to an 
injection with a standard needle and syringe.  Storing drugs in a solid dosage 
form typically makes them more stable and therefore refrigeration may not be 
essential, as is often the case with liquid formulations.  The solid dosage form 
also enables immediate or controlled release of the drug into the blood stream, 
thus optimising the drug release profile or reducing the need for multiple 
injections. 
www.glidepharma.com 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
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