CLEVELAND, OHIO, January 29, 2013—Sulfagenix, Inc. (www.sulfagenixinc.com) is pleased to announce the issuance of a key patent related to its efforts to develop hydrogen sulfide prodrugs. The Cleveland-based pharmaceutical company is focused on developing medical foods, drugs and therapies that address unmet medical needs by modifying existing molecules to improve safety, bioavailability and efficacy.
U.S. Patent No. 8,361,514 provides for compositions of sulfur molecules that can be used to treat disease caused by oxidative stress. “Through our work and the work of others, we know that hydrogen sulfide therapy is very effective at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease in a variety of animal models,” says Dr. John Elrod, Assistant Professor at Temple School of Medicine and a co-founder of Sulfagenix. “We now also know that sulfur plays an important role in numerous other diseases associated with oxidative stress, including cancer and diabetes.”
The products covered in the patent were developed by Mexican company Nuevas Alternativas Naturales Thermafat, S.A. de C.V. (NANT). The patent portfolio relating to these products, including this issued application, was licensed exclusively to Sulfagenix for use in all fields. The inventor of these new compositions, Mr. Gabriel Gojon Jr., NANT COO and Sulfagenix co-founder adds. “Due to their increased bioavailability, these new compositions can provide a safe and efficacious means of increasing circulating hydrogen sulfide levels and, with this, the opportunity to treat numerous diseases.” Additional patent applications covering many other aspects of Sulfagenix’s platform are pending in the U.S. and abroad.
Sulfagenix is undertaking an initial development strategy of demonstrating the ability of its lead product, SG1002, administered orally as a medical food to overcome the nutritional deficiencies associated with lack of dietary sulfur, initially for heart failure. Patients with congestive heart failure have been shown to be deficient for circulating levels of hydrogen sulfide and Sulfagenix believes that SG1002 will provide a safe and effective means of increasing these circulating levels. Sulfagenix is also developing additional products covered by these and pending applications for use in treating diseases associated with oxidative stress.
About Sulfagenix, Inc. Sulfagenix is a privately-held biotechnology corporation based in Cleveland, Ohio, and built on decades of research on modifying existing molecules to improve safety, bioavailability and efficacy for new uses. The Company’s first product in development, SG1002, is a precursor to a natural-occurring molecule, hydrogen sulfide, for which deficits have been shown to exist in a number of serious diseases including CVD, Type II Diabetes, cancer, hypertension, Alzheimer’s Disease, cirrhosis, hyperhomocysteinemia, chronic kidney disease, GI tract irritation, asthma and wound healing. Sulfagenix was formed by executives from NANT and scientists in the US to pursue development of these novel molecules as medical foods and therapeutics. Sulfagenix is currently raising Series A financing to support theses activities and expects to begin development work early this year. For more information, visit www.sulfagenixinc.com.
