 Press ReleasesFebruary 2004 Chemical Weekly Ultrafine & Photopharmica conclude Initial Phase of Chemical Development for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) Candidates Ultrafine (UFC Ltd) (Manchester, UK) has successfully completed the first phase of the chemical process development and scale-up of Photopharmica Ltd's (Leeds, UK) lead compounds, PPA605 and PPA904. Selected to enter non-clinical development in 2003, batches of PPA605 and PPA904 produced by Ultrafine will enable Photopharmica to complete pre-clinical studies. The next phase of the project will involve manufacture by Ultrafine of PPA605 and PPA904 to GMP for use in clinical trials. Ultrafine were selected to provide a range of chemical development services for Photopharmica in June 2003, initially synthesising small quantities of material to support Photopharmica's short-term requirement. Subsequently, Ultrafine conducted extensive process development work to establish a scalable route. John Lyon, CEO of Photopharmica said "We are delighted with Ultrafine's contributions to the PDT development programmes and look forward to continuing our relationship with them into the clinical trial phase." Mike Harris, Ultrafine's head of Business Development added, "We are extremely pleased to be working with Photopharmica in this emerging field. The success of this project reinforces Ultrafine's strategy of providing Biotech companies with a rapid, cost effective chemical development service. Having proved the scalability of these compounds, we will be producing GMP batches for clinical trials in 2004." Photosensitisers are special molecules, which are able to harness the energy from light. They are able to direct this energy into killing unwanted tissue or organisms (photodynamic therapy, PDT). The key feature in both applications is that the technique must be able to selectively target the diseased tissue or microorganism, without damage to normal or host tissues. Ultrafine is a privately owned company based in Manchester UK which was established in 1984 and provides chemistry services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies throughout the world. It has expertise in all aspects of research and development chemistry from drug discovery to the provision of materials for use in toxicology studies and clinical trials. Photopharmica is a privately owned pharmaceutical discovery company founded in 2001. The company was set up to develop light sensitive drugs (known as photosensitisers), for the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. This technology was developed at the Leeds Centre for Photobiology and Photodynamic Therapy. The centre, part of Leeds University, is the largest of its kind in Europe. Photopharmica has recently raised £3.5 million from leading venture capitalists in second round financing to progress its pipeline. > menu |
