The new company will be based in Radebeul, Germany. Dr. Thomas Kronbach, Biotie’s former Chief Scientific Officer, has left Biotie to become CEO of biocrea. The company currently has a pipeline of three PDE inhibitors at research and preclinical stages, which will be advanced into clinical development by 2012. The compounds have already demonstrated efficacy in preclinical animal models for schizophrenia, memory impairment, depression and anxiety. Moreover, biocrea has established a leading internal drug development platform for PDE inhibitors. Already, biocrea’s researchers have identified several thousand structurally diverse PDE inhibitors with high specificity and nanomolar affinity and have a track record of collaborations with Wyeth (now Pfizer) and GlaxoSmithKline in PDE inhibitor drug discovery and development. In addition, the company has long-standing experience in medicinal chemistry, in particular with drug-like compounds capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, and in the design of behavioral animal models for neurologic and neuropsychiatric diseases.
“Our goal is to fill the gap that has emerged since many pharmaceutical companies have discontinued their R&D activities in CNS,” said Tom Kronbach, CEO of biocrea. “Our team has a unique track record in the field of CNS therapeutics, including the development of PDE inhibitors for the treatment of schizophrenia, and we are excited to acquire the assets from Biotie. We are convinced that biocrea will be able to become one of the leading CNS plays and are currently evaluating partnering and financing opportunities.”
Biotie will take a minority interest in biocrea and provide initial funding of up to EUR 4.8 million to the new entity. About biocrea biocrea was established in November 2010 following a management buy-out from Biotie Therapies Corp. (HSE: BTH1V; Turku, Finland). In the transaction, biocrea acquires the CNS pipeline and PDE inhibitor platform from Biotie. biocrea´s team has a long-standing, exceptional track record in the development of CNS therapeutics, e.g. the development of a PDE10 inhibitor portfolio for the treatment of schizophrenia in collaboration with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer, which acquired Wyeth in 2009.
About Phosphodiesterases (PDEs)
Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) comprise a superfamily of enzymes with great clinical significance as they regulate signal transduction mediated by important cyclic nucleotide messengers. PDE inhibitors therefore are regarded as promising drug candidates. The approval of the first selective PDE inhibitor sildenafil in 1998 has validated this hypothesis. Meanwhile, further drugs inhibiting PDE5 have been approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and pulmonary artery hypertension. In 2010, roflumilast was approved as the first PDE4 inhibitor for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, there are several PDE3 inhibitors approved for the treatment of various severe heart diseases. Only recently, it has been discovered that PDEs present in distinct areas of the brain are associated with mental diseases such as schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and memory impairment as well as with pain. However, novel approaches such as biocrea´s drug development concept are needed to develop more specific inhibitors at the level of PDE subfamilies and/or isoforms to optimize their efficacy and side-effect profile.
Contact Dr. Tom Kronbach CEO, biocrea Tel.: +49 351 / 4043 3332 Fax: +49 351 / 4043 3216 tom.kronbach@biocrea.com
