August 3, 2021 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire -- NetworkNewsWire
Editorial Coverage: One of the most pervasive diseases in
first-world countries, heart disease is
the leading cause of death for men
and women of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States,
with one person dying every 36 seconds from cardiovascular disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(“CDC”), high blood pressure, or hypertension, is a key risk factor
for both heart disease and stroke, and nearly half of all adults in
the United States, or 108 million, have hypertension — yet only
about 24% of those have their condition under control. Many don’t
even know they have it. The urgency of finding effective treatments
for this life-threatening disease can’t be understated, with many
companies, including Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ:
LEXX) (Profile), with its patented DehydraTECH(TM)
drug delivery, joining the effort to offer safe, effective and
affordable treatments. Hypertension and related conditions are also
points of focus for other drug-making juggernauts such
as Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:
PFE), Merck & Company Inc. (NYSE:
MRK), Novartis AG (NYSE:
NVS) and AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:
AZN).
- High blood pressure is a life-threatening disease that can be
managed with effective treatment.
- Lexaria is a first mover in developing potential treatment base
on its DehydraTECH technology.
- The company has focused its ongoing R&D into three key
segments, including pharmaceuticals and the treatment of heart
disease.
- Recent human clinical study using DehydraTECH technology
demonstrated rapid, sustained drop in blood pressure along with
excellent tolerability.
Click here to view the custom infographic of
the Lexaria Bioscience editorial.
Hypertension Running Wild
Controlling blood pressure is essential to health. High blood
pressure is a primary or contributing cause of death in almost
500,000 deaths a year, and hypertension can double the
risk of a heart attack and quadruple the chance of having
a stroke, plus raise the likelihood of heart failure, vision loss,
renal disease, dementia, peripheral artery disease and more. And
it’s not just an “old-person” problem; nearly one in four adults
aged 20 to 44 have high blood pressure. In addition, high blood
pressure costs the United States about $131 billion each year.
The good news? The disease can be managed — and even cured
— with effective treatment. With that in mind, it’s no
surprise that the global anti-hypertensive drugs market
is expected to
grow from $24.17 billion in 2020 to $27.81 billion in
2025. Even with current hypertension drugs available, only 24% of
the 108 million people in the U.S. with high blood pressure have
their condition under control. It’s a market ripe for
innovation.
Increasing Onset, Bioavailability, Potency
Lexaria
Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ: LEXX) may be on the forefront of
some of the exciting innovation in the space. The Kelowna, British
Columbia-based company has developed and patented its DehydraTECH
technology, a drug-delivery platform for increasing the speed of
onset, bioavailability and drug potency. The mechanics involve
combining an active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) with fatty
acid oil and then applying the mix to carrier particles, which can
even be common ingredients such as tapioca starch or gum arabic.
Next, a patented dehydration synthesis procedure is performed, and
the product is rendered as powder or liquid for use in the desired
final form factor, such as a pill, tablet, chewable or oil.
Lexaria has been working with National Research Council of
Canada, the biggest R&D organization in the country, since 2017
on defining the qualities of DehydraTECH. Among other things,
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance molecular characterization suggests
DehydraTECH does not change the chemical structure of an API it
delivers, which is critical in reliance on original API safety data
in developing novel delivery methods without starting from scratch
regarding the FDA process. This keeps the door open to a faster
path to market.
Ultimately what this means is DehydraTECH could make lower doses
of some substances more effective while even reducing side effects.
The company has focused its ongoing R&D into three key
segments, including pharmaceuticals
and the treatment of heart disease.
Early Results Show Extreme Promise
Just last month, Lexaria announced that a human clinical study
using DehydraTECH technology demonstrated a rapid and
sustained drop in blood pressure along with excellent
tolerability. “We are very encouraged by these early results in our
2021 hypertension program,” said Lexaria CEO Chris Bunka.
“Lexaria’s technology enabled a rapid and sustained drop in blood
pressure, especially systolic pressure and particularly in stage 2
hypertensive volunteers.”
Initial results show that blood pressure was reduced across both
male and female volunteers and was most pronounced in the first
10–50 minutes of the study treatment, reinforcing pre-existing
findings demonstrating that DehydraTECH delivers superior
performance over generic controls. Dr. Phil Ainslie, the lead
investigator on the study, commented that “these early results are
extremely promising in this at-risk hypertensive population and
provide a fundamental support for expansion into more prolonged
repeat dosing and future longer term clinical trials.
Platform Diversification
Lexaria’s vision and focus is on several core business segments
for DehydraTECH, including heart disease and hypertension,
reduced-risk noncombusted nicotine and improved antiviral drug
delivery, to name a few. Multiple successes on different fronts
have been reported recently, including work in the
antiviral program where DehydraTECH has been used to
process compounds from leading drugs used for antiviral drugs for
SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS. This is critical work not only
for hopefully treating COVID-19 today but also in order to be
better prepared when the next pandemic inevitably comes (think bird
flu, swine flu, MERS, SARS, etc.).
The scalability to address a diverse group of market
opportunities lends color to the potential of DehydraTECH. Consider
the antivirals market that is in the spotlight right now because of
the COVID-19 pandemic and the circulating delta variant is
estimated at $52.1 billion and forecast to reach $66.7 billion by
2025. But DehydraTECH is so versatile, there are many other
potential applications. Lexaria sees opportunities in human
hormones (e.g., testosterone and estrogen replacement, a $21.9
billion market); oral mucosal nicotine (global smokeless tobacco
products market valued at $13.6 billion in 2018), vitamin D3 ($1.1
billion market); PDE5 inhibitors ($4.4 billion market in 2014); and
non-steroidal anti-inflammatories ($15.6 billion market in
2019).
Cardiovascular Disease Market Only Getting
Bigger
Lexaria is only tapping into a slice of the $92.4
billion cardiovascular drug market that generates billions
of dollars in profits every year for drug makers. Majors dominate
this lucrative market expected to rise to $107.77 billion in 2025,
fueled by a return to normal healthcare practices in a
post-pandemic economy.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), one of
the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, notes
that despite
advances in care and treatment, cardiovascular disease (“CVD”)
remains the number-one cause of death worldwide, with the
prevalence only expected to increase. Pfizer is committed to
harnessing its legacy and expertise as it aims to address gaps in
CVD treatment through the development of new medicines that can
meaningfully reduce CV risk for patients. Originally manufactured
by Pfizer, NORVASC(R) has been available for more than 25 years and
is prescribed to treat high blood pressure (hypertension),
certain types of chest pain (angina), and blocked arteries of the
heart (coronary artery disease).
Merck & Company Inc. (NYSE:
MRK) announced
earlier this year that the FDA had granted approval to its
(and Germany-based partner Bayer’s) heart-failure drug, Verquvo
(vericiguat). The company noted that patients with symptomatic
chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction have a high
risk for hospitalization after experiencing symptoms of heart
failure requiring outpatient IV diuretic treatment or
hospitalization. Many of those, perhaps even more than half, are
hospitalized within a month of discharge due to a worsening event,
and approximately one in five dice within two years. The approval
of VERQUVO provides doctors, health-care professionals, and
patients with a new option to current available therapies.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), like
most other majors, is highly diversified, with its top-20 products
generating $16 billion in sales during the first half of 2021.
Entresto, its drug to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and
hospitalization for heart failure in certain patients, was its
biggest gainer during Q2, with sales surging 53% from the year
prior quarter to $886 million during the quarter. Novartis is committed to reimagining medicine and
using innovative science and technology to address some of
society’s most challenging healthcare issues.
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:
AZN) announced in April that its proprietary
sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, Farxiga, has
been approved for
use in the United States. In phase 3 trials, the drug
demonstrated unprecedented reduction in the risk of the composite
of worsening of renal function, end-stage kidney disease and
cardiovascular or renal death. Chronic kidney disease is often
associated with a heightened risk of heart disease or stroke, and
the company called the approval of Farxiga, one of the most
significant advancements in the treatment of chronic kidney
disease in more than 20 years.
Heart disease is the most indiscriminate killer in the United
States. Every year it is a leading cause of death for men, women
and people of most racial and ethnic groups. About one in every
four deaths is caused by heart disease, equating to roughly 655,000
Americans each year. It’s clear that drug sales are booming trying
to combat it, but any innovation to make these medicines (many of
which have ugly side effects) better will almost certainly be
welcomed with open arms.
For more information about Lexaria Bioscience
Corp., please visit Lexaria
Bioscience Corp.
About NetworkNewsWire
NetworkNewsWire (“NNW”) is a financial news and
content distribution company, one of 50+ brands within
the InvestorBrandNetwork (“IBN”), that
provides: (1) access to a network of wire
solutions via InvestorWire to reach all target markets,
industries and demographics in the most effective manner
possible; (2) article and editorial
syndication to 5,000+ news outlets; (3)
enhanced press release solutions to ensure maximum
impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN
millions of social media followers; and (5) a
full array of corporate communications solutions. As a multifaceted
organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and
writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and
public companies that desire to reach a wide audience comprising
investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By
cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, NNW
brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand
awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.
To receive SMS text alerts from NetworkNewsWire, text
“STOCKS” to 77948 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information, please visit https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the
NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW,
wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer
NetworkNewsWire (NNW)
New York, New York
www.NetworkNewsWire.com
212.418.1217 Office
Editor@NetworkNewsWire.com
NetworkNewsWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork
DISCLAIMER: NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is the source of the Article
and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than
the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry
participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and
do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. The
commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by NNW are
solely those of NNW. Readers of this Article and content agree that
they cannot and will not seek to hold liable NNW for any investment
decisions by their readers or subscribers. NNW is a news
dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and are
NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no
investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy
any security.
The Article and content related to the profiled company
represent the personal and subjective views of the Author, and are
subject to change at any time without notice. The information
provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from
sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the
Author has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all
such information. None of the Author, NNW, or any of their
respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of
any such information. This Article and content are not, and should
not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation
regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are
strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and
review all of the profiled issuer’s filings made with the
Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment
decisions and should understand the risks associated with an
investment in the profiled issuer’s securities, including, but not
limited to, the complete loss of your investment.
NNW HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and
such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations,
plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words
such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”,
“expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”.
You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude
of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances,
events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results
may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements as a result of various factors, and other risks
identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and
other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the
forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue
reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this
release are made as of the date hereof and NNW undertakes no
obligation to update such statements.
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024