Ferrets Stock to Watch: APOLLO LIFE SCIENCES LTD 09:11, Thursday, 19 October 2006
ANOTHER BREAKTHROUGH FOR LOCAL BIOTECH COMPANY
Sydney - Thursday - October 19: (RWE Australian Business News) **************************************************************
OVERVIEW ********
Apollo Life Sciences Ltd (ASX:AOP) earlier this week reported a fresh research breakthrough, not content to rest its laurels in developing a needle-free insulin for diabetics last month.
The company's latest news revolves around its Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF) blocker, ALS-00T2, which it claims outperforms market leaders in comparative preclinical studies with etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab.
The studies indicate Apollo's proprietary TNF blocker generates fewer antibodies, and reduces inflammation at least as effectively as the other anti-TNF molecules when injected subcutaneously or delivered transdermally through the skin using Apollo's TransD technology.
The TNF blocker market is estimated to be worth over $US8.5 billion annually, with a growth rate of 30 per cent.
TNF blockers are used to treat inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Apollo is preparing to enter Phase 2 clinical trials for its ALS-00T2 topical psoriasis treatment, having successfully completed Phase 1b trials earlier this year.
A topical rheumatoid arthritis treatment that uses the same technology is also being prepared for clinical trials.
Meanwhile a series of animal studies was conducted to compare Apollo's human cell expressed (hcx) TNF blocker with three major products currently available for its ability to reduce inflammation.
Inflammation was induced using Carrageenan, and solutions were applied then and daily, either by subcutaneous injection or topically using TransD.
Swelling was measured twice daily over a period of up to 14 days.
This animal model is commonly used to study cellular accumulation during the induction of the inflammatory process.
The results indicated that ALS-00T2 is at least as effective as the existing products at reducing swelling in this model when administered by injection or topically.
The studies confirmed earlier findings that ALS-00T2 is effective at reducing inflammation, and that Apollo's transdermal delivery technology, TransD, delivers biologically active large proteins and antibodies across the skin.
SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS *********************
Shares of Apollo yesterday rose 6c to 55c. Rolling high for the year was 85c and low 30c. The company has 64.3 million shares on issue with a market cap of $35.3 million.
Last month, Apollo Life Sciences rolled out the possibility of needle-free insulin for diabetes treatment.
The company suggested this was a major breakthrough by successfully lowering blood glucose levels in diabetic rats with oral insulin, using its proprietary oral delivery technology, Oradel.
Currently, people with diabetes can require up to 1,500 insulin injections a year to manage their condition.
Diabetes affects almost one million Australians, and 100,000 people develop the disease annually.
Results from a series of preclinical studies indicate that Apollo's oral delivery technology, Oradel, successfully delivers generic insulin to diabetic rats, significantly lowering blood glucose levels for a sustained period of time with a single dose.
Oral feeding of diabetic rats with Oradel insulin resulted in reduction in blood glucose levels in responder animals of up to 80 per cent which persisted for longer than six hours.
In these studies, the oral insulin formulation was administered once daily to diabetic rats, and blood glucose levels were measured at one- or two-hour intervals over an extended period.
BACKGROUND **********
Apollo Life Sciences was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on June 29, 2005.
The company focused on developing and commercialising human proteins for treatment of disease and ageing.
It also has a number of therapeutic products currently in development.
Apollo Life is developing therapeutics to combat such diseases as Psoriasis, Hepatitis C, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Alzheimer's and strokes.
It has also conducted preliminary work on proteins that target Hepatitis B, HIV, Dementia, Parkinson's disease and certain types of cancer.
Apollo is in the pre-clinical stages of testing products for hair regrowth, hair removal and skin rejuvenation.
The company offers research reagents to scientists for pure and applied biological experiments which it believes are are more suitable for research because of their human-like properties.
