Pfizer’s fizzle helps pave way for local firm’s cholesterol drug
By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
Dec. 11, 2006
Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.
Local biopharmaceutical company Liponex Inc. says it is now well-positioned to take the lead in the good-cholesterol drug market after the fall of Pfizer’s torcetrapib drug last week.
Liponex is currently conducting its first Phase 2 trials in heart patients for its CRD5 drug, which increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good cholesterol.”
Dr. Daniel Sparks, the company’s chief scientific officer, says CRD5 had already shown the ability to increase HDL by 20 per cent in its two-week Phase 1 trials with no apparent side-effects, even before the company had come out with its latest formulation.
The drug was also shown to lower triglycerides - the storage fat in bodies which also contributes to heart disease - by about 40 per cent.
He adds that there are no other compounds (more…)
