Tripep has filed a patent application for an antibiotic-free formulation of ChronSeal in collaboration with Japanese company Kringle Pharma, Inc.
Tripep AB and Kringle Pharma, Inc.have filed an application for a patent with the American patent authorities for protection of a new antibiotic-free and controlled release formulation of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which will be particularly suitable for the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers. Between 0,5-1 percent of the population suffer from chronic leg wounds, i.e. between 4-8 million people in the USA and EU together. Chronic venous leg ulcers are also a fast growing problem as the aging population of the Western World increases.
Through the collaborative efforts of Tripep, Kringle Pharma, and Zelmic AB, the new ChronSeal formulation will be suitable for treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers without the use of antibiotics. Since antibiotics are not required in the new formulation, the problems associated with diagnostic pre-screening of the patient to determine the resident pathogen in the wound prior to treatment and concerns over the presence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens have been overcome. A phase II clinical multi-center study on chronic venous leg ulcers is planned for the spring of this year and an application to the Swedish Medical Products Agency is planned to be filed by the end of this month.
Tripep is developing the new ChronSeal formulation together with Kringle Pharma and the two companies share costs and future revenues so that Tripep has 60% and Kringle 40% of the project Kringle Pharma is a world leading company in the development of HGF and is the only company that can produce biologically active recombinant human HGF according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), i.e. the quality needed for clinical trials in man. Tripep has commissioned the Swedish company Zelmic AB to manufacture the new ChronSeal formulation.
”It feels good to be able to get away from using antibiotics in combination with ChronSeal considering all problems with bacterial resistance it may bring about. It is with confidence I look forward to the clinical phase II study of ChronSeal.” says Tripeps CEO Jan Nilsson.
About ChronSeal
In the autumn of 2006 Tripep acquired a technology and certain intellectual property rights concerning the treatment of chronic skin wounds with HGF and antibiotics. This combined treatment was developed at Linköping University Hospital and it was found to be particularly successful when used on patients that suffer from chronic leg wounds.
About Kringle Pharma
Kringle Pharma is a biotech company based in Osaka, Japan. The company was established in 2001 to develop pharmaceuticals based on HGF and NK4, both discovered by Professor Toshikazu Nakamura at Osaka University. Both HGF and NK4 have so called “kringle”-structures, hence the name of the company. Professor Nakamura discovered that HGF has an outstanding ability to regenerate/repair not only liver tissue but has a broad ability to heal many different tissues. HGF also has a so called anti-fibrotic activity, which is not observed in other growth factors. At present Kringle Pharma is developing HGF for the treatment of acute renal failure. NK4 is a molecule having an effect that is contrary to that of HGF and other growth factors. NK4 is also being developed by Kringle Pharma for a variety of cancer treatments.
From March of 2003 until the present, the President and CEO of Kringle Pharma has been Mr. Kunio Iwatani. Previously, Mr. Iwatani worked in business development at the International Division of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. He was also President and CEO of for Hokuriku Seiyaku Co. Ltd. and Board Member for Abbott Japan Co. Ltd.
From 2002 until the present, the Scientific Executive Officer of Kringle Pharma has been Professor Kunio Matsumoto at Kanazawa University, who discovered NK4 along with Professor Nakamura.
Professor Toshikazu Nakamura is an advisor to and one of the major shareholders of Kringle Pharma. Professor Nakamura is one of Japan’s most influential scientists having received several national and international prizes, including the prestigious “Medal of Purple Ribbon”, which was given by the Japanese government for his life achievements in biochemical research. He is currently the head of the Division of Molecular Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine.
For more information, please contact:
Jan Nilsson, CEO, Tripep AB
Tel: +46 8 449 84 80, mobile phone: +46 70 466 31 63
E-mail: jan.nilsson@tripep.se
Anders Vahlne, Head of Research, Tripep AB
Tel: +46 8 5858 1313, mobile phone: +46 709 28 05 28
E-mail: anders.vahlne@ki.se