Chemeq moves into human pharma

Western Australian company Chemeq has signed an agreement with renowned University of Western Australia researcher Prof Barry Marshall to investigate the use of its CHEMEQ polymeric antimicrobial to treat ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori.

The agreement marks a new direction for the company, which until now has concentrated most of its efforts on the veterinary market, marketing the drug as an alternative to the traditional antibiotics used as growth promoters in pigs and poultry.

"We always thought the potential was there [for using the technology in a human pharmaceutical product] and now we are doing research to try to realize our hopes," said Dr Graham Melrose, CEO of Chemeq. "The specific objective is to get into the human pharmaceutical market."

He explained the reasoning behind positioning the antimicrobial as a potential treatment for gastrointestinal tract diseases as a logical extension of its veterinary use, where it is administered in animal feed, preventing post-weaning colibacillosis in pigs.

"Technically it is very suited to gastrointestinal applications," Melrose said. He said its size and structure inhibited the drug from crossing over into the bloodstream, and the drug exhibited low toxicity in animals.

He noted that H. pylori was one of the major human gastro-intestinal pathogens, infecting more than half of the human population globally and responsible for the majority of gastric and duodenal ulcers, as well as being implicated in gastric adenocarcinoma. The bacteria's role was discovered by Marshall and Dr Robin Warren.

"To date, a number of times, we have noticed that CHEMEQ polymeric antimicrobial has killed related Helico species in pigs," said Melrose.

"Now Prof Marshall as well as our own laboratories have demonstrated the antimicrobial 's activity against H. pylori in laboratory test tubes. In the next phase, Professor Marshall is now assessing activity, in vivo, in mice."

Chemeq did not release the terms of the agreement, however the company would retain all intellectual property and rights associated with the project. Melrose said that the agreement was open-ended and further collaboration would be dependent on the results of in vivo studies.

In the meantime, Chemeq is making progress on the construction of its new manufacturing facility for its veterinary drug, and expects to be up and running in the first half of next year.

The company has also announced that it has received written purchase orders worth $1 million for its antimicrobial drug from South African pig farmers, representing 20 per cent penetration into the potential market in that country.

In addition, veterinary surgeons who prescribe to the major farmers in South Africa have provided written expressions of interest that would amount to more than 50 per cent market penetration, said Chemeq's corporate marketing manager, Dr Alistair Murdoch.

"Alone, South Africa is a small market for pigs -- but it is a good model of regulatory and sales potential. Therefore, we are delighted -- just four months after approval and one trip to demonstrate the product -- to have achieved a market penetration that we had conservatively estimated to take four years of selling," Murdoch said.

Chemeq's share price had risen more than 10 per cent to $3.87 at the time of writing.