ICOS ready for more trials
By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer
Published: Monday, June 28, 2004
BOTHELL - Even as ICOS Corp. watches sales of its first approved drug generate millions of dollars, the biotechnology firm's executives have turned their attention to creating follow-up drugs.
Despite having a successful erectile dysfunction drug Cialis on the market, a large research staff and plenty of money in the bank, ICOS' short roster of potential drugs undergoing clinical testing has been a concern.
That's because research-driven firms such as ICOS, which has grown quickly to become the state's largest biotech company, can't live forever off one successful drug.
With that in mind, ICOS announced this month that it has entered an exclusive agreement with Raven biotechnologies Inc. to study and potentially use five antibodies discovered by Raven. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
"This provides us with a nice set of potential drug candidates," said W. Michael Gallatin, vice president and scientific director at Bothell-based ICOS.
The antibodies developed by Raven, based in the San Francisco area, include potential cancer therapies.
While the deal helps to boost ICOS' research pipeline, analyst Paul Latta points out that all of the antibodies ICOS will study are still in the preclinical stage, meaning they haven't been tested yet for effectiveness or safety.
Still, it's a start. Before the Raven deal, ICOS' Web site listed only one drug candidate in active clinical trials or preclinical development.
"Anywhere they can generate some research productivity, that helps," said Latta, who tracks ICOS for Seattle-based McAdams Wright Ragen Inc. "But the pipeline's still a little on the weak side."
That wasn't the case just a few years ago.
In early 2000, ICOS listed three drugs in clinical trials besides Cialis, and 13 candidates in early-stage research.
The early-stage, or preclinical, candidates varied from a potential fungal disease treatment to a drug to treat a form of leukemia.
While it's not unusual for a high failure rate among preclinical candidates, ICOS has had half a dozen drugs fail after the human trial stage.
Those include LeukArrest, which ICOS dropped after patients who had had a stroke didn't make sufficient progress during phase 3 trials.
Work on two drug candidates ICOS developed with Texas Biotechnology Corp., including sitaxsentan, an experimental drug to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension, also stopped.
In late 2002, development of Pafase, aimed at treating a severe blood infection called sepsis, halted. ICOS' work on a second potential sepsis drug, IC14, also was terminated. Another joint research program ended last summer after research stopped on a possible psoriasis treatment.
Finally, earlier this year, ICOS' chief medical officer and vice president of development, David Goodkin, revealed that work on RTX had stopped after it showed poor results during a phase 2 study. That drug was being developed to treat a chronic bladder condition.
Industrywide, a small percentage of biotech drug candidates passes through all the required clinical trials. Based on that, ICOS' drug failures haven't been unusual, Gallatin said. And he's bullish on the revival of the company's research.
"We have a number of other drug candidates coming out of research here," he said, adding that he's impressed by both the "quality and quantity" of ICOS' emerging drug candidates.
At spring's shareholders meeting, Paul Clark, ICOS chief executive officer, said his researchers are looking at a possible new treatment for psoriasis, a drug to enhance chemotherapy and other possibilities.
That's in addition to IC485, ICOS' most advanced drug candidate. Researchers are beginning new phase 2 trials on the potential treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The company also will begin tests this year to see if the active ingredient in Cialis, its erectile dysfunction drug, can also treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, a condition caused by enlargement of the prostate in older men.
Clark's goal is to have two or three potential drugs entering human tests in the near future.
"Expect to see the research engine smoking" in the next year or two, Clark told shareholders.
Latta said he also expects ICOS will look to expand its pipeline even further though more deals with others. "The company, I know, is open to moving the pipeline forward through a range of means," he said.
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