Cryptome puzzles it out

Cryptome Pharmaceuticals (ASX: CRP) is a step closer to proving the validity of its cryptomics approach to speeding up drug discovery, after animal studies of its lead antithrombotic drug CR001 produced positive results.

Cryptome's novel technology platform utilises proteolytic enzymes to breakdown proteins into smaller "cryptic" fragments, which are then tested for activity in appropriate assays. Because the resulting drug candidates are derived from naturally occurring proteins, the company hopes that they will be safer and require less optimisation than small molecule drugs, speeding up the drug development process considerably.

"The aim of the company is to short cut the drug development timeframe -- from that point of view things are going very well," said Prof Mathew Vadas, one of the company's founders and currently the acting CEO.

CR001 -- the subject of an AUD$1.95 million R&D Start grant awarded by the Federal Government in late August -- has previously been shown by in vitro studies to inhibit the Tissue Factor-initiated coagulation pathway. When administered to guinea pigs, the drug was found to inhibit coagulation in blood samples subsequently drawn from the animals as demonstrated by a standard clotting assay, by as much as 55 per cent. An important finding was that the inhibition of blood clotting times was apparent as soon as 5 minutes after the administration of the drug, suggesting that the effects were immediate. And no significant side effects, such as internal bleeding, were observed.

The next step, according to Vadas, will be to test the drug in a suitable disease model for thrombosis, with the aim of showing efficacy. This study is in the works, with results likely later this year. If all goes smoothly, the drug could be ready for clinical trials in 2006 or 2007.

Meanwhile, Cryptome is not putting all of its eggs in one basket, and is working in a number of disease fields in addition to cardiovascular disease, including cancer and, more recently, neuroinflammatory disease.

"We have other hits in the cardiovascular and cancer programs that are being evaluated," Vadas said.

As the coming year unfolds, the company will be seeking to partner and collaborate with big pharma, bringing in the revenues it will need to continue going forward.

"We're looking at collaborations and the number of potential deals is mounting," Vadas said. "Ideally we'd like to take the products a long way ourselves, but realistically the first products will probably be partnered early."

Other capital raising options are also being examined by the board, as the company heads into the second calendar year since its $6.6 million IPO in November 2003. At the end of the 2003-2004 financial year, the company had some $4.7 million cash remaining.