EvoGenix touts positive bone treatment results

EvoGenix (ASX:EGX) has reported results on the development of its product OVP, for the treatment of bone loss.

"We have found the molecule we were looking for," said EvoGenix CEO Merilyn Sleigh. "We have successfully applied our optimisation technology EvoGene to produce a variant of a naturally occurring regular protein, Osteoprotegerin (OPG).

OPG is a natural protein with a centre role in the normal process of bone formulation and turnover. According to Sleigh, OPG has been shown in animal testing and early patient studies to be very effective in stopping excessive bone loss in diseases such as osteoporosis and bone cancer. However, it has also been linked to potential increase in cancer incidence in treated patients.

"The OPG variant, OVP -- previously described in the company's prospectus as EGX-010 -- retains all of OPG's ability to stop abnormal bone erosion and loss, but now lacks a secondary activity of OPG which is the possible interference in cancer surveillance. "Slight modification of the OPG protein using our EvoGene technology has proved to be highly effective in identifying active variants, which retain the ability to block bone loss but have at least a 200-fold drop in the ability to interfere in cancer surveillance," she said.

In October, EvoGenix signed a deal to apply its EvoGene technology to optimise selected compounds from GlaxoSmithKline's product pipeline.

Testing is currently being completed on OVP to confirm its activity in appropriate disease-related systems, through company collaborations in Melbourne and Adelaide. A patent application has recently been filed by EvoGenix to protect a range of different OVPs and their application in diseases such as osteoporosis.

"The company's strategy is to take projects through to completion of scientific development before partnering. This is the first time we have reported these results so haven't started to look for partners," Sleigh said.

Sleigh presented the results at the annual CHI conference on Protein Engineering, held in San Diego, California last week.