REHOVOT, Israel and NEW IPSWICH, N.H., March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (LSE: ``XTL'') reported receiving multiple milestone payments from an undisclosed corporate partner based on products advancing into clinical testing for the treatment of the hepatitis C virus (``HCV''). The payments were triggered when XTL's partner submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) for two products which were evaluated in XTL's proprietary Trimera (XTL) animal model to test the efficacy of anti-HCV compounds. Further details were not disclosed.
``XTL's Trimera HCV disease model offers drug development companies a breakthrough, in vivo system that can significantly accelerate the development and commercialization of new drugs to treat hepatitis C, a serious infectious disease that is responsible for an estimated 8,000 deaths annually,'' stated Martin Becker, President and CEO of XTL.
Normally, animals are not susceptible to hepatitis C infection, a fact that has severely limited the ability to test promising new drugs. The novel Trimera (XTL) system provides a test model for the evaluation of compounds that may have clinical utility for the treatment of hepatitis C infection. XTL's system offers the potential to biologically validate the effectiveness of drug candidates before embarking on costly human clinical studies. It is anticipated that the availability of a small animal model could significantly reduce the time and money needed to develop novel drugs to treat hepatitis C.
HCV is as a major cause of chronic hepatitis in the United States and is a leading cause for liver transplantation. An estimated 4 million individuals are infected with HCV in the United States, and the World Health Organization estimates that 170 million people are infected worldwide. Approximately 85% of HCV infected persons will develop chronic hepatitis, of which 20% will progress to liver cirrhosis. The number of deaths attributable to hepatitis C is expected to triple in the next 10 to 20 years.
In addition to this pioneering work in hepatitis C, XTL has recently completed a multinational Phase I clinical trial in hepatitis B patients utilizing its lead drug candidate, XTL-001, a combination of two fully human anti-HBV monoclonal antibodies developed utilizing the Trimera (XTL) technology.
XTL Biopharmaceuticals develops novel therapeutics to treat life-threatening infectious diseases using fully human monoclonal antibodies and small molecule drugs. XTL's competitive advantage lies in its ability to leverage both its proprietary human tissue-based in vivo disease models and fully human monoclonal antibodies to validate and develop promising drug candidates. The Company's growing pipeline of therapies, designed to combat chronic viral infections, drug-resistant bacteria and serious systemic fungal infections, comprises internally developed products as well as those being co-developed with a number of biopharmaceutical partners. For more information about XTL, visit the Company's web site at www.xtlbio.com . |
