STOCKHOLM, November 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
OxThera AB, a privately-held Stockholm-based biopharmaceutical company,
today announced a granted US patent
on Oxalobacter formigenes
secretagogues.
Oxabact® , a formulation of highly concentrated
lyophilized Oxalobacter formigenes, is being
developed by OxThera AB as a potential treatment for patients with
primary hyperoxaluria (PH). Oxabact® is designed to
increase the intestinal secretion of oxalate from plasma and
thereby decrease and prevent oxalate crystal accumulation and
kidney deterioration. Oxalobacter formigenes produces
specific secretagogues that enhance active transepithelial
transport of oxalate from the bloodstream and into the intestines.
OxThera isolated and defined such secretagogues, patent number
US 10,125,176, and are now exploring the potential to
use these therapeutically.
"This recent development should enable us to explore
possibilities to further enhance the favorable
effects seen with Oxabact®
therapy. OxThera aims at
finding ways to use these
secretagogues as novel therapies on their own
or in combination with Oxabact® to control the
secretion of oxalate in primary hyperoxaluria patients," says
OxThera's CEO Matthew Gantz.
PH is a rare autosomal recessive disorder leading to markedly
elevated levels of endogenously produced oxalate in plasma and
urine, which can cause kidney damage, including calcification of
the kidney. If left untreated, the disease can cause kidney failure
and premature death. This disease affects about 3,000 patients in
the Western world.
Oxabact® is an oral, live biotherapeutic treatment
where Oxalobacter formigenes, a type of bacteria that uses
oxalate as its sole carbon source, induces secretion of oxalate
from blood plasma into the gut. Oxalobacter formigenes is
likely interacting with the gut lining cells via secretagogues that
are biological peptides or small biomolecules.
OxThera holds proprietary rights to pharmaceutical preparations
and their use for treatment of hyperoxaluria. Oxabact®
has received orphan drug designations in the EU and the US for the
treatment of PH. The company recently initiated a
placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial with Oxabact®
in patients with PH at ten clinical sites in seven countries.
For more information, see http://www.oxthera.com
About OxThera
OxThera holds worldwide rights for compositions and methods of
use for treatment of hyperoxaluria. OxThera currently has two
products in its pipeline: Oxabact® for the treatment of
primary hyperoxaluria, and Oxazyme®, an oxalate
decarboxylase, for the treatment of oxalate malabsorption and
kidney failure in enteric hyperoxaluria.