The Hindu Business Line : Argenta, Dr Reddy’s develop respiratory drug

Hyderabad, Nov. 26 In the quest to develop drugs to treat certain chronic respiratory diseases, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Argenta Discovery Ltd, UK have announced milestone developments, including the first candidate drug to enter pre-clinical stage.

Argenta Discovery, the respiratory drug discovery and development company, and the Hyderabad-based, Dr Reddy’s Labs said their progress was in the development of targeting a novel disease-modifying approach to treat the cause of certain chronic respiratory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma.

In a press release simultaneously from Harlow, UK and here, Argenta’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Christopher Ashton, said: “Just 18 months after signing the deal with Dr Reddy’s, the team has already selected the first candidate drug to proceed into pre-clinical development”.

“We are very excited by the exceptional progress this programme has made within such a short timeframe. With GMP material already manufactured we are on target to enter Phase I in mid-2008 and Phase II in 2009,” he said.

Under the terms of the licensing agreement announced in February 2006, Argenta and Dr Reddy’s are collaborating to identify clinical candidates against an undisclosed but proven anti-inflammatory drug target and to develop these candidates to Phase II proof-of-concept.

Dr Ashton said the programme was also likely to deliver high quality back-up candidates in the near future.

COPD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with an overall prevalence in adults over 40 years currently estimated at between 9 per cent and 10 per cent. Unlike many other major diseases, deaths due to COPD are increasing and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates by 2020 COPD will be the third leading cause of mortality and the fifth leading cause of morbidity in the world.

Argenta also has a successful and growing contract research division that provides integrated drug discovery services to a range of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. Argenta employs approximately 150 people and is based in Harlow and Slough, UK, the release added.