New Orals, Better Topicals Top Psoriasis Wish List
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Biologics for psoriasis leapfrogged existing treatments in the last decade, greatly improving the standard of care. Although those may still see incremental improvements, the real changes for patient care may come with the introduction of new oral and topical treatments. START-UP profiles four emerging companies that are tackling this challenge: Avexxin, Cellceutix, Creabilis, and Convoy Therapeutics.
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Cellceutix Corp.
These days, most start-up companies intent on developing a novel treatment for nearly any disease make a point of talking about their drug candidate’s presumed mechanism of action. It is pretty much de rigueur that a would-be drugmaker will discuss molecular something: if not the candidate itself, then certainly its target. But Cellceutix Corp. is not a typical start-up. Founded in June 2007, it became a publicly traded company through a reverse merger in December of that year. While the company appreciates the buzz that its anti-cancer candidate is generating, it is being a bit more tight-lipped about Prurisol, its novel drug candidate for psoriasis.
Creabilis SA
Nearly a decade ago, scientists began publishing studies that aroused excitement in the generally sleepy, low-innovation market for dermatology products. The finding that nerve growth factor is involved in inflammatory and autocrine diseases like psoriasis has since spurred many attempts to develop new treatments for underserved mild to moderate skin disorders. Several companies have taken into clinical-phase testing drug candidates that target different points along NGF’s pathway. For its part, Creabilis SA is developing a new chemical entity it believes can treat both psoriasis and atopic dermatitis by blocking NGF’s high affinity receptor, TrkA, with a kinase inhibitor presently known as CT327.