MILPITAS, Calif., Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Protagonist
Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTGX) today announced that a key patent
has issued covering orally stable peptides from the company's most
advanced development program. This new U.S. patent, No. 9,518,091,
together with previously granted U.S. patent No. 9,273,093,
provides protection for the company's alpha4beta7 integrin peptide
inhibitors, which includes the company lead clinical candidate,
PTG-100.
"This new patent provides intellectual property coverage until
2035 for our orally stable alpha4beta7 integrin peptide
inhibitors," said Dinesh V. Patel,
Ph.D., Protagonist President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are
very enthusiastic about this program and look forward to reporting
on continued progress in clinical development of our lead oral drug
candidate PTG-100 for potential treatment of inflammatory bowel
diseases."
About PTG-100
PTG-100 is a potential first-in-class oral, alpha4beta7
integrin-specific antagonist peptide product candidate which has
now completed a Phase 1 clinical trial in normal healthy
volunteers (NHVs), and is being developed initially for potential
treatment of moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC).
Alpha4beta7 integrin is considered to be one of the most
gastrointestinal-specific biological targets for inflammatory bowel
disease due to its binding to MAdCAM-1, an extracellular
protein that resides mostly in the gastrointestinal (GI)
vasculature.
About Protagonist Therapeutics
Protagonist Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company with a proprietary technology platform focused on
discovering and developing peptide-based new chemical entities to
address significant unmet medical needs. Its primary focus is on
developing first-in-class oral peptide drugs that specifically
target biological pathways also targeted by currently marketed
injectable antibody drugs. Compared to injectable antibody drugs,
Protagonist's oral peptides offer targeted delivery to the GI
tissue compartment, potential for improved safety due to minimal
exposure in the blood, improved convenience and compliance, and
potentially an opportunity for earlier introduction of targeted
therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Protagonist's initial
lead peptide product candidates, PTG-100 and PTG-200, are based on
this approach, and the company believes they have the potential to
transform the existing treatment paradigm for IBD, a GI disease
consisting primarily of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
PTG-100, a potential first-in-class oral alpha4beta7 integrin
antagonist that is being developed initially for moderate-to-severe
ulcerative colitis, has now completed a phase 1 clinical trial in
normal healthy volunteers. PTG-200, a potential
first-in-class oral Interleukin-23 receptor antagonist is being
developed initially for moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease and is
currently in IND-enabling studies.
The company has a peptide technology platform that enables the
discovery of oral and injectable peptides that can be utilized
against a diverse set of targets and diseases including, but not
confined to the GI. In addition to PTG-100 and PTG-200, the company
is engaged in the discovery and development of injectable hepcidin
mimetics, including one lead compound from this program, PTG-300,
which is currently in pre-clinical development. These mimetics have
potential utility for the treatment of iron overload disorders,
such as beta-thalassemia and hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), each
of which may qualify PTG-300 for orphan drug
designation.
Protagonist is headquartered in Milpitas, California with its pre-clinical and
clinical staff in California, and
discovery operations both in California and in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For further
information, please visit http://www.protagonist-inc.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for
purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include
statements regarding our intentions or current expectations
concerning, among other things, the potential for our programs,
plans, timing and the availability of results of our clinical
trials and the potential for eventual regulatory approval of our
product candidates. In some cases you can identify these statements
by forward-looking words such as "may," and "continue,"
or the negative or plural of these words or similar
expressions. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ
materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to,
our history of net operating losses and uncertainty regarding our
ability to achieve profitability, our ability to develop and
commercialize our product candidates, our ability to use and expand
our programs to build a pipeline of product candidates, our ability
to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product
candidates, our inability to operate in a competitive industry and
compete successfully against competitors that have greater
resources than we do, our reliance on third parties, and our
ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property
rights for our product candidates. We discuss many of
these risks in greater detail under the heading "Risk Factors"
contained in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended September 30, 2016 to be filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual
results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the
development of the industry in which we operate, may differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this
press release. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this
press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We
assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
after the date of this press release.
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SOURCE Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.