• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Rockville-Based EntreMed Inc. Obtains Two New Patents for Its Lead Clinical Drug Candidate

Posted on: Thursday, 18 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Rockville-based EntreMed Inc. has obtained two new patents for its lead clinical drug candidate, and expects to offer more news on the cancer therapy within the year.

The company announced yesterday it had been granted two new patents protecting Panzem, its drug candidate designed to stifle angiogenesis, or the creation of new blood vessels, in cancerous tumors, and to inflict cell death directly.

The drug still is in Phase I-B trials, but results from those trials should be available by the end of the year - if the trials aren't completed, interim results at least have been promised. EntreMed is in the process of determining a particular cancer to target with the drug; an answer could come by the end of the year.

These patents strengthen our position in - the treatment of cancer and expand the range of indications for our lead anti- angiogenic agents, said EntreMed President and CEO James S. Burns in a prepared statement. Our goal is to continue strengthening EntreMed's intellectual property for its key product candidates.

The new patents cover the company's compound 2-methoxyestradiol, known as 2ME2, and numerous derivatives of that compound. Panzem, based on that compound, is in clinical stages for oncological treatments and preclinical stages for anti-inflammatory properties that could be of use in rheumatoid arthritis.

The patents protect 2ME2 and its derivatives for cancer treatment and other indications, including inflammatory disorders, immune disorders, cardiovascular disorders and rheumatoid arthritis.

The new patents are not momentous news for the firm, which already possesses a healthy stable of intellectual property, said Ren Benjamin, a senior analyst with Rodman & Renshaw investment bank in New York.

But they are good news for EntreMed in that, like any biotech without a commercialized product, it lives from one small milestone to the next, he added.

Panzem has shown promise in multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma and a progressive blood disease. New Jersey-based Celgene Corp. last year brought in about $400 million in revenues from its treatment for the disease. The market for Panzem, if it succeeds in multiple myeloma treatment, could be anywhere from $250 million to $500 million, Benjamin said.

Though Panzem's commercialization is years off - its capsule form still has Phase II trials to go, not to mention completion of Phase I-B - the company has promised another 2ME2 product will begin clinical trials early next year.

EntreMed's investors should be used to showing their patience by now. In 2000, the company's stock, traded as ENMD on the Nasdaq Composite Index, hovered near $100; within two years it was below a dollar. These days, Benjamin said, $2.50 is the average.

If you're an investor who's been holding on since $80, [the stock] obviously isn't doing very well, Benjamin said.

But those who bought later in the game at $1 or so, encouraged by the company's potential, will soon get some answers.

For those investors who want to see if [Panzem] works or is this drug safe, they're going to get that by the end of the year, Benjamin said.

The stock closed up yesterday 2 cents to $2.66.

Source: The Daily Record (Baltimore)

More News in this Category