NEW YORK, June 23, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- A spin-off of intellectual properties of the University of Birmingham, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:BCRX) was founded in 1986, Bennett told www.wallst.net. The former President of the University of Birmingham, Bennett, who joined them in 1997, said the company is currently working on "four major drug discovery programs."
The company is in the process of finding inhibitors for the Hepatitis C polymerase. An RNA Virus similar to the Corona Virus, which causes SARS, and the West Nile Virus, Bennett said that there is a good chance that Hepatitis C polymerase inhibitors would have a good chance in combating SARS and the West Nile Virus, as well. "An inhibitor for any one of them will have a good chance of having a reaction against the others," he said. The CDC, NIH and the U.S. Army have all begun programs testing polymerase-inhibiting compounds, and are currently testing some of the compounds discovered by BioCryst, he added.
Currently, BioCryst is focused on "pure discovery as opposed to commercialization," Bennett said. "Our real focus is Hepatitis C," he said. The company is testing a cell-based Replicon system which can be used as a measuring stick for the effectiveness of their treatments. Measurement and the safety of the Replicon system are two of the top priorities of the company.
BioCryst is also working with purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), which is used to treat lymphoblastic leukemias, Bennett said. Currently in Phase 1 trials, the treatment, which affects t-cells, decreasing the bone marrow blast cells that proliferate and block out white cells, "has had some interesting results," he said. "We're looking at patients who have a variety of leukemias in order to do the safety studies," he said. "We've had a significant amount of those with bone marrow blast cells decreasing." Killing blast cells allows healthy cells in bone marrow to increase, he added.
Another drug that the company is currently working on is an inhibitor of tissue factor 7A, which inhibits coagulation and inflammation, Bennett said. "We believe this could be a very important new approach to treating acute coronary syndromes, especially unstable angina." Unlike other acute angina treatments, the tissue factor 7A inhibitor gives equal importance to decreasing inflammation, as it does coagulation. "Decreasing inflammation is as important as decreasing coagulation," Bennett said. The drug is currently in its animal-testing phase. Bennett estimated 1.5-2 million patients a year complain of symptoms foretelling of unstable angina. "That market, in this country alone, is in the neighborhood of $1 billion or more."
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About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. designs, optimizes and develops novel drugs that block key enzymes essential for viral, cardiovascular and oncologic disease processes. BioCryst integrates the necessary disciplines of biology, crystallography, medicinal chemistry and computer modeling to effectively use structure-based drug design to discover and develop small molecule pharmaceuticals. Enrollment in a Phase I/II trial for a product candidate, BCX-1777, is underway at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for patients with T-cell leukemias and T-cell lymphomas. BioCryst has several new enzyme targets in drug discovery including tissue factor/factor VIIa, hepatitis C polymerase and complement component C1s.
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