A cystic fibrosis drug that seemed destined for death when its company faced financial troubles (and eventually linkurl:went belly up;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55982/ last year) is being revived by another company.
A new company launched by a veteran of the defunct company (Altus Pharmaceuticals, which linkurl:we profiled;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55882/ last year) plans to submit the drug, a pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval. Most CF patients need to supplement enzymes that help their bodies absorb nutrients in food. Liprotamase, Altus's drug, was based on microbial enzymes rather than those extracted from pig pancreas, and could be taken in a single pill, rather than the five or so patients generally take with each meal. Its development had been the cornerstone program for Altus Pharmaceuticals, based in Waltham, MA; the company had gone public after promising Phase 2 results for the drug in 2006. But Phase 3 results...
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The ScientistThe ScientistMass High TechCorrection (March 8): The original version of this post incorrectly referred to Alnara as a spinout of Altus. The mistake has been corrected; The Scientist regrets the error.
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