For Corvas, is this "leverage of serine proteases expertise" from cardiovascular indications to cancer believable? If not, makes me think good news/bad news (equals bad news) coming.
TST: Could we start out with a brief overview of the history and evolution of Corvas International, Inc (Nasdaq:CVAS)?
Mr. Woods: Corvas was founded in 1987 with a primary focus on cardiovascular disease research. The company went public in early 1992 and has advanced two products into Phase II clinical trials. The first product is partnered with Pfizer who is conducting Phase IIb clinical trials in stroke. We have completed two Phase II clinical trials with the second drug for deep vein thrombosis and associated pulmonary embolism as well as elective angioplasty. Over the last several years, we have developed an expertise in the serine protease gene family and inhibitors of serine proteases as it relates to cardiovascular disease. We're now taking that experience and leveraging it into cancer where serine proteases have been implicated as playing key roles in tumor growth and metastasis. So, we believe we've minimized our risk by leveraging a resident expertise into a new therapeutic area that we believe has tremendous potential.
TST: As we look down the road at the landscape of the markets you are serving, what trends do you see emerging that are going to help focus the direction of research at Corvas?
Mr. Woods: There has been a lot of progress made in the area of cardiovascular disease, which is the number one market in the world. Cardiovascular disease is number one, stroke is number two, and cancer is number three, so Corvas is developing drugs that address the three largest markets that exist today. As I mentioned earlier, our focus historically has been more in the area of cardiovascular disease research. There's been a significant amount of progress made in this area, and a lot of people are suggesting that cancer is going to move ahead and become the number one disease state, especially as the population ages. With regard to Corvas' strategy, we will continue to maintain our foundation in cardiovascular disease research, but will begin to focus more of our resources, going forward, in cancer research. With an aging population and people living longer, and many additional environmental factors, cancer continues to be a significant problem that Corvas believes will provide a significant opportunity for us to benefit a lot of people in the future.
TST: Does that require any sort of heavy restructuring internally?
Mr. Woods: Actually, we are minimizing our risk by leveraging a resident expertise in serine proteases gained from our cardiovascular research and applying it to a new therapeutic area, cancer. For example, rNAPc2, one of our most clinically advanced drugs, is an inhibitor of a key serine protease involved in the blood clotting cascade. Now, the scientific community is discovering that serine proteases also may play important roles in certain solid tumor cancers. So Corvas is taking a platform technology that already existed inhouse, leveraging it into a new therapeutic area that gives us the opportunity to participate in a market where there's still a huge unmet medical need, and really helps diversify our risk.
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Wilder |
