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Roche Licenses First-in-Class Treatments
for Chronic Pain to Afferent Pharmaceuticals; Afferent Secures
$23 Million in Series A Financing
Pappas, Third Rock, Domain and New Leaf Launch New Company
Centered on Novel Pain Management Technology; Afferent to
Initiate Clinical Trials in First Half of 2010
Basel, Switzerland and Palo Alto, Calif., 16 December 2009 –
Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today it has
licensed its P2X3 receptor program aimed at developing
first-in-class treatments for chronic pain to Afferent
Pharmaceuticals. Afferent was co-founded by Anthony Ford, Ph.D.,
Pappas Ventures, and Third Rock Ventures, and is focused on
developing compounds that treat chronic pain by targeting a
novel biological pathway. In conjunction with this announcement,
Afferent successfully closed a $23 million Series A financing,
which was led by Third Rock Ventures and Pappas Ventures, and
included Domain Associates and New Leaf Venture Partners.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate the
development of P2X3 receptor targeted pain therapies.
More than 270 million people worldwide suffer from chronic pain.
While product reformulations or combinations of established
molecules have led to new product introductions, there has been
little recent success in identifying novel mechanisms for
successfully managing and treating pain. Existing therapeutic
approaches such as opioids, antiepileptic drugs and
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including COX-2
inhibitors, have documented drawbacks in inadequately addressing
patient needs and presenting safety, efficacy, tolerability and
addiction concerns.
“A major drawback of existing pain medications is their lack of
specificity for pain pathways,” commented Dr. Ford, who will
serve as chief scientific officer of Afferent. “Afferent is
poised to lead the way with an entirely novel, targeted
mechanism for treating chronic pain. Research shows that
P2X3-containing receptors are highly specific to nerve fibers
that transmit the sensations of pain and discomfort in response
to inflammation or injury, particularly in chronic conditions.
P2X3 antagonism represents a breakthrough and potentially
transformative approach to treating chronic pain associated with
conditions such as osteoarthritis, back pain, visceral pain and
neuropathy. Our preclinical and clinical data on this program
suggest a very compelling first-in-class, orally delivered
product, and we look forward to initiating clinical trials to
test the safety and efficacy of the lead product candidate,
AF-219, in several indications early in 2010.”
Dr. Ford is a former vice president of research at Roche who
initiated and drove the P2X3 program for the last decade,
including collaboration with Professor Geoffrey Burnstock of
University College London, a leading expert in the P2X3 receptor
area. Dr. Ford brings more than 20 years of research and
development experience at Roche and Syntex to Afferent. Liam
Ratcliffe, M.D., Ph.D., Afferent Board member and venture
partner, New Leaf Venture Partners, will work closely with Dr.
Ford and play a key role in advising the company on clinical
development strategies. Dr. Ratcliffe is the former senior vice
president and development head for Pfizer Neuroscience and
brings over 15 years of drug development experience in pain and
related indications to the company. Afferent’s Board of
Directors is chaired by Kevin Starr, partner, Third Rock
Ventures, and also includes Arthur M. Pappas, managing partner,
Pappas Ventures, Dr. Ratcliffe, and Jesse I. Treu, partner,
Domain Associates.
“Understanding how pain is processed at each stage in the
peripheral and central nervous system is key to developing safe
and effective therapies for the treatment of pain,” commented
Dr. Ratcliffe. “We now understand that P2X3 is an important
receptor in a variety of pain conditions and provides an
opportunity to block pain at its source. We believe Afferent is
well positioned to be the leader in P2X3 targeted drugs and
fully exploit this opportunity.”
Afferent has exclusively licensed the P2X3 program from Roche.
Dan Zabrowski, global head of partnering, Roche commented, “We
consider the P2X3 pathway to be an innovative and promising area
worthy of further clinical development. Investing this program,
related assets and intellectual property in Afferent provides
the ideal focused vehicle to ensure this opportunity can be
maximized for the potential benefit of the millions of patients
suffering from chronic pain. We are very pleased to be
collaborating with Dr. Ford and this leading life sciences
syndicate to launch Afferent and advance the P2X3 program.”
Blocking Pain at its Source
Treating pain by targeting P2X3 heralds an exciting new approach
to pain management, and this program marks the first in a new
class of drugs poised to meet the significant unmet needs in
pain management. P2X3 receptor subunits are expressed
specifically in so-called C-fiber afferent neurons in multiple
organ systems including joints and hollow organs suggesting a
high degree of specificity to the nociceptive system (the system
in the human body that perceives pain). As a result, there is a
lower likelihood of adverse effects in the brain or
cardiovascular tissues, effects which have been limiting factors
for many existing therapeutics. In the periphery, ATP (the
factor that triggers P2X3 receptor activation) can be released
from various cells as a result of tissue inflammation, injury or
visceral distension and may stimulate these local nociceptors.
The highly selective distribution of P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors
within the nociceptive system has led to various efforts to
clarify the potential role of ATP as a pain mediator. P2X
receptor-mediated afferent activation has been implicated in
inflammatory, visceral and neuropathic pain, as well as migraine
and cancer pain. Additional information regarding P2X3 and
Afferent can be found on the company’s website at
www.afferentpharma.com.
About Afferent
Afferent Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing first-in-class
medicines to treat chronic pain by targeting P2X3 receptors in
nerve fibers. Research shows that P2X3-containing receptors are
highly specific to nerve fibers that transmit the sensations of
pain and discomfort in response to inflammation or injury,
particularly in chronic conditions. P2X3 antagonism represents a
breakthrough and potentially transformative approach to treating
chronic pain associated with conditions such as osteoarthritis,
back pain, visceral pain and neuropathy. The company’s lead
compound, AF-219, has successfully completed two Phase 1
clinical studies, and is expected to undergo efficacy testing in
several indications starting in 2010. Afferent was launched in
December 2009 by Pappas Ventures, Third Rock Ventures, Domain
Associates and New Leaf Ventures, and is led by Anthony P. Ford,
Ph.D., chief scientific officer and a recognized expert in the
P2X3 field.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in
research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in
pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest
biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology,
virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the
world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer
diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche’s
personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and
diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the
health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2008, Roche
had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 9
billion Swiss francs in R&D. The company posted sales of 45.6
billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly
owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in
Chugai Pharmaceutical of Japan. For more information:
www.roche.com.
About Third Rock Ventures
Third Rock Ventures is a premier venture firm focused on life
sciences, investing and launching companies that make a
difference in people’s lives. Collaborating with entrepreneurs,
the Third Rock team applies its deep expertise to establish the
roadmap and building blocks for a rapidly-growing and
highly-successful life sciences company. The Third Rock team has
a unique vision and experience in building great companies,
extensive academic and industry networks and a collective track
record for creatively managing the value creation path to
deliver exceptional performance. For more information, please
visit
www.thirdrockventures.com.
About Pappas Venture
Founded in 1994, Pappas Ventures invests exclusively in the life
sciences sector – biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, drug
delivery, medical devices and related ventures. Pappas Ventures
has more than $350 million in capital under management, and has
guided the launch and/or development of more than 50 life
sciences companies, including Cerexa (acquired by Forest
Laboratories), Peninsula Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson &
Johnson), Syntonix (acquired by Biogen IDEC), NuVasive (IPO),
and Arena Pharmaceuticals (IPO). For more information about
Pappas Ventures, please visit
www.pappasventures.com.
About New Leaf Venture (NLV) Partners
NLV Partners is a life science-dedicated venture capital firm
with offices in Menlo Park and New York. Founded by an
experienced team of venture capitalists with deep healthcare
industry experience, NLV Partners invests primarily in companies
focused on clinical-stage biopharmaceutical products,
early-stage medical devices and molecular diagnostics. NLV
Partners manages over $1.3 billion of assets, including NLV-I,
NLV-II and the healthcare technology portfolio of Sprout Group.
For further information, visit the NLV Partners website at
www.nlvpartners.com.
About Domain Associates
Founded in 1985, Domain Associates, L.L.C. is a venture capital
firm with an exclusive focus on life sciences. With $2.5 billion
of capital under management, Domain has offices in Princeton, NJ
and San Diego, CA. Domain’s three major investment segments are
pharmaceuticals, specialty pharmaceuticals, and medical devices,
while additional areas of interest include biomaterials,
bioinstrumentation, and diagnostics. The Partners of Domain have
a total of close to 200 person-years of experience among them in
the healthcare/venture capital industries and have been involved
in the formation and growth of more than 210 life-sciences
companies. For further information, visit
www.domainvc.com.
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The lead compound licensed to Afferent was RO 4926219, is in
Phase 1 and otherwise known as RG1646
Press contacts
Roche Pharma Partnering
Sharon Valdettaro
+41 61 688 96 55
sharon.valdettaro @roche.com
Darien E. Wilson
Roche Public Affairs
(973) 562-2232
darien_e.wilson @roche.com
Pure Communications
Sheryl Seapy
(949) 608-0841
Caton Lovett
(910) 232-7166
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