Research collaboration to treat pulmonary fibrosis

Australian pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) has entered into a research collaboration with UK biotechnology company Synairgen. Together, they will develop a selective inhibitor to the enzyme lysyl oxidase type 2 (LOXL2) to treat the lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) — a fatal condition that causes persistent and progressive scarring of the alveoli in the lungs.

The companies are targeting the LOXL2 enzyme because it is known to promote scar tissue, which hardens and irreparably damages the lungs of IPF patients over time. It is hoped that the inhibition of the enzyme will slow the build-up of this scar tissue and improve survival rates.

The LOXL2 inhibitor program comes from the same Pharmaxis chemistry platform as the semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) inhibitor, which was recently acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim. According to CEO Gary Phillips, Pharmaxis has made “good progress in our preclinical LOX inhibitor program — and, in particular, on LOXL2 small molecule inhibitors — to treat various diseases where fibrosis is a major problem”.

Synairgen will fund further activity of the program at Pharmaxis, use its BioBank and in vitro lung model platform, and collaborate with the IPF research team at the University of Southampton to complete preclinical and early clinical development. Synairgen CEO Richard Marsden noted, “LOXL2 is a target which is of interest not only to our IPF clinical experts in Southampton but also to large pharmaceutical companies.”

The IPF program will be managed by a joint steering committee through to the end of phase 1 or phase 2a clinical trials, at which time the collaboration will seek a licence partner. Pharmaxis and Synairgen will share any licensing revenues in accordance with the ratio of total investment by the two companies at that time. The share of licensing revenues is expected to be approximately equal for a compound licensed for IPF after early clinical development.

Phillips believes the collaboration with Synairgen will “accelerate the development of a highly competitive once-a-day oral treatment for patients with IPF”. He additionally suggested that it will enable Pharmaxis to develop compounds for other indications where LOXL2 inhibitors have shown potential, such as liver and kidney fibrosis and cancer.

Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) shares were trading 2.38% higher at $0.215 as of around 1 pm on Friday.