Vienna, 28 May 2008 – onepharm, a Viennese biotech company that specializes in the development of anti-inflammatory and antiviral drugs, has recently acquired intellectual property from Bionetworks (Munich, Germany). Working with its collaboration partner, The Forsyth Institute (Boston, MA), onepharm has successfully confirmed, in animal models, that this technology stops bone loss in periodontitis. To support its growing portfolio, onepharm has also strengthened its development team.
Periodontitis – successful rat model
"One of our new lead drug candidates acquired from Bionetworks, OPM-3023, completely inhibits bone loss in a fulminant periodontitis rat model. When we received this exiting data in spring 2008, we immediately decided to plan a first clinical trial end of this year," recalls Otto Doblhoff-Dier, COO of onepharm. "We do not know of any product on the market that shows similar effects in periodontitis." On the basis of this new data, onepharm intends to develop a new drug for the treatment of periodontal bone loss together with its research collaboration partner, The Forsyth Institute.
In parallel, onepharm is actively continuing its project work on OMP-3001, an influenza drug candidate that is being developed in cooperation with Minophagen, Japan. Some of the 25 team members are also optimizing onepharm’s lead candidates OPM-3001 and OPM-3023 by chemical modifications. "We now test our modified small molecule drugs for inhibition of various specific enzymes that play key roles in inflammation", explains Oliver Szolar, CSO. "We apply computer pharmacophore models and a broad range of cell biological and biochemical methods to screen the new candidates."
Team gains additional support from experienced scientists
In order to optimally support its lead projects, onepharm hired Dr. Angelika Bodenteich, a trained pathologist, as head of development. She previously led development activities for a publicly traded pharmaceutical company. Dr. Margit Spatzenegger, a trained pharmacist, joined as head of preclinical development. "We are proud that our team is strengthened by two additional development professionals from the pharmaceutical industry", explains Bernhard Küenburg, CEO. "This allows us to maintain development speed throughout the phase of patent and project acquisition".
About onepharm
onepharm was founded jointly by the management and Green Hills Biotechnology in 2005. The company focuses on the development of its lead candidates OPM-3001 in influenza and OPM-3023 in periodontitis as well as other chronic inflammatory indications. In addition, new derivatives of OPM-3001 and OPM-3023 are synthesized and screened in a medicinal chemistry programme (ASPEX Vienna) funded by the ZIT (Zentrum für Innovation and Technologie GmbH) of the City of Vienna. To this date, onepharm has been able to attract funds exceeding EUR 8.0 million, including equity capital, subsidized loans, research grants.
About The Forsyth Institute
The Forsyth Institute is the world’s pre-eminent organization dedicated to scientific research and education in oral health and related biomedical science. Forsyth, an independent institution, leads in the discovery, communication and application of breakthroughs in oral health and disease prevention. The Institute is affiliated with Harvard and has collaborations with university and research organizations around the world. For more information about Forsyth visit its web site at www.forsyth.org.
Contact:
onepharm Research & Development GmbH
Dr. Bernhard Küenburg, CEO bernhard.kueenburg(at)onepharm.com
Veterinärplatz 1A, Object IA, 2nd floor A-1210 Vienna Phone: +43 1 25077 5900 Fax: +43 1 25077 5999