Long-Acting Drug Delivery Technology Applied to Exenatide Substance 'PT320'
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Peptron, a leading company in the development of peptide-based long-acting new drugs, announced on the 29th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Imperial College London for a joint Phase 2 clinical study on the Alzheimer's disease indication for PT320.
On the 13th, Peptron's Head of Business Development and Imperial College London signed the MOU in London, UK, and began working on the formal contract for the joint Phase 2 clinical study on Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Imperial College London is a globally recognized comprehensive university specializing in science, engineering, natural sciences, and medicine, ranked 8th in the 2021 world university rankings.
The principal investigator is Professor Paul Edison of Imperial College London. Professor Edison is an industry pioneer who successfully completed the Phase 2 clinical trial of Novo Nordisk's Saxenda (liraglutide AD) and laid the groundwork for the Phase 3 clinical trial of the oral formulation semaglutide (Rybelsus).
A company representative stated, "The Phase 2 clinical protocol has already been finalized," and added, "The study will be conducted in the UK under investigator-initiated trials involving more than 200 patients."
PT320 is an exenatide compound applied with Peptron's sustained drug delivery technology (SmartDepotTM). Exenatide has demonstrated cognitive improvement effects in animal models of Alzheimer's disease. PT320 is currently known to have excellent blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability among GLP-1RA class drugs. It is attracting attention as an effective treatment for degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
The company representative said, "Alzheimer's disease is a market with approximately 50 million patients worldwide," and added, "The clinical trial experience of Imperial College London combined with Peptron's excellent manufacturing and technological capabilities will create synergy to demonstrate the outstanding efficacy and technological excellence of PT320."
They continued, "We will do our best to lead the degenerative brain disease market through new drug development."
Competitive drugs to Peptron's PT320 include GLP-1RA drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Rybelsus and antibody drugs targeting beta-amyloid. Alzheimer's disease is rapidly increasing along with the aging population. The industry expects the market to grow to approximately 6 trillion KRW in 2022 and about 8 trillion KRW by 2025.
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