PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS AND BIOLOGIC THERAPIES
Pharmaceutical drugs & biologic therapies are essential to saving lives, and they give someone with a negative prognosis hope and a positive outlook. They keep us alive and help cure the once thought incurable. Did you know that many of these life-changing pharmaceutical drugs are being created right here in San Diego?
Here are this year’s Most Innovative New Product Awards Pharmaceutical Drugs finalists:
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – NUPLAZID®
NUPLAZID is the first FDA-approved treatment for hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. NUPLAZID is a non-dopaminergic, selective serotonin inverse agonist preferentially targeting 5-HT2A receptors thought to play an important role in Parkinson’s disease psychosis. ACADIA discovered this new chemical entity and holds worldwide rights to develop and commercialize NUPLAZID. We had the pleasure of talking with ACADIA and they answered a few questions here:
CONNECT: What’s your biggest achievement to date?
On April 29, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved NUPLAZID (pimavanserin) for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. This approval represents a significant achievement for ACADIA and is the culmination of over a decade of drug discovery and development. More importantly, it represents a major medical breakthrough for patients living with Parkinson’s disease psychosis, a debilitating condition that is associated with significant caregiver burden, increases the risk of hospitalization, and is one of the strongest independent predictors of nursing home placement. NUPLAZID is the first and only treatment approved by the FDA for this indication.
CONNECT: What’s the biggest obstacle or challenge you’ve overcome?
The long process of drug discovery and development is by definition full of periodic setbacks and great leaps forward – and the journey of NUPLAZID was no exception. With this in mind, our biggest challenge has been to stay the course in bringing this novel molecule to market.
CONNECT: What does being a finalist in the Most Innovative New Product Awards mean to you?
We are proud and honored to be recognized for the innovation behind NUPLAZID, which is a first-in-class, first-in-disease treatment with the potential to impact the lives of patients, caregivers and families.
Ardea Biosciences – Zurampic
Zurampic is the first new oral mechanism of action treatment for gout approved by the FDA in 60 years. It brings an innovative treatment option to millions of gout patients whose disease remains uncontrolled. Gout is a serious chronic, progressive, and debilitating inflammatory arthritis and affects 27 million people worldwide. President and COO of Ardea, James Mackay, answered a few questions about the company here:
CONNECT: What’s your biggest achievement to date?
Acquisition of Ardea Biosciences and creating the innovative culture that contributed to the successful development and approval of Zurampic.
CONNECT: What’s the biggest obstacle or challenge you’ve overcome?
Crating an operating model that allowed Ardea to function independently and empowered within a large pharma company whilst still being able to access large pharma capabilities were required.
CONNECT: What does being a finalist in the Most Innovative New Product Awards mean to you?
Recognition of the innovation culture that we operate in each and every day and even more importantly recognition for the amazing staff that developed Zurampic.
GlyConMedics LLC
While sulfonylureas are excellent anti-diabetes drugs, they exert anti-biotic effects and disturb gut “good-bacteria”. Our clinical case studies demonstrated that oral intake of our patented Pre-biotic (OZ101 tablets) by patients on sulfonylurea abrogates anti-biotic effects leading to several years of near-normal glucose-control and significant reduction of hypoglycemia and weight gain. CEO, Nick Gorgani, answered a few questions about GlyConMedics for us here:
CONNECT: What’s your biggest achievement to date?
Discovering and developing a simple, natural and cost-effective solution, with virtually no side effects, for one of the world’s fastest growing and pandemic disease, type 2 diabetes.
CONNECT: What’s the biggest obstacle or challenge you’ve overcome?
In the order of importance :
1) Receiving 2 government grant funding and investments from family and friends to develop our technology.
2) Moving our project to a phase 2 clinical stage and receiving approval from human research ethics committees to conduct a phase 2a clinical trial.
3) Issuance of our first patent in major jurisdictions.
CONNECT: What does being a finalist in the Most Innovative New Product Awards mean to you?
It is an absolute honor to be recognized as a MIP finalist. This has given our company and our team the confidence that our technology is ranked within the top 3 in southern California, the most “Innovative Hub” of the world! This recognition will certainly assist our company in future fund-raising to move our technology forward much faster and ultimately bring our new treatment to type 2 diabetes patients, who need them most.
For more information on the 2016 Most Innovative New Product Awards click here.
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