Proof that pharma is not monolithic and new invest money is flowing in

[bimazek]

Here is a start up that is just now getting huge funding to create new powerful small molecules, ie drugs, to fight hiv.  Anyone who thinks that pharma is conspiracy to not help us, here is vivid proof that even today a new company is getting money to find treatments...

I don't often post news here about  colleagues at Ventures West, but I thought I'd post something about a sizable financing announced today.  http://www.ventureswest.com/Portfolio/

Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel, small molecule compounds for the treatment of HIV-1, HCV and other chronic viral infections, announced today that it has closed a $26 million Series B financing led by Panorama Capital. Also participating in this round were Baker Brothers Investments, Bay City Capital, Ventures West Capital, Nexus Medical Partners, and several existing Series A shareholders including Sagamore Bioventures, George Rathmann Fund and Peninsula Overview Partners.
I'm excited about the antiviral market, and this is a great team, so it should be an interesting ride.

Some more background:
http://www.presidiopharma.com

The Antiviral Market and HIV

Annual sales of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of antiviral infections are over $16 billion globally and are projected to approach $25 billion by 2011. HIV drugs currently account for the majority of annual sales, generating in excess of $8 billion, and should continue to help drive the overall antiviral market, with projected growth of almost 10% annually. Even after 25 years of increasing prevention, diagnosis, and treatment efforts, there are approximately one million individuals infected with HIV in the United States today, with approximately 40,000 new infections each year. In addition, over 20% of these newly-infected individuals are infected with strains that are already resistant to one or more existing therapies. HIV is expected to continue to adapt and develop resistance to current and future therapies, so that new approaches will continue to be needed within the existing combination treatment paradigm.


from their website...

http://www.presidiopharma.com/programs_pipelines.html

some great new concepts and treatments

PPI-801 (formerly MIV-410): Is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) with a novel mechanism of action. Unlike other NRTIs that are chain terminators (AZT, 3TC, ddI, d4T, abacavir etc.), PPI-801 inserts in the nascent cDNA chain at a penultimate position allowing one additional nucleoside to be incorporated but with a modified orientation. This mechanism of action prevents standard RT escape mutations such as Thymidine Analog Mutations (TAM) and Nucleoside Analog Mutations (NAM) from excising PPI-801 as they do with other NRTIs.   PPI-801 is expected to be a once-a-day low dose therapy for individuals failing existing NRTIs as well as a potential first line therapy for newly infected individuals. We are advancing a promising prodrug of PPI-801 called PPI-802 through preclinical and IND-enabling studies over the next twelve months. This prodrug is more orally bioavailable than the parent molecule when tested in animal studies.




Nuclear Exclusion Technology (NEXT™):  Presidio's Nuclear Exclusion Technology (NEXT™) is a novel strategy that attacks HIV-1 before the pathogen can reproduce. After the virus infects human cells, the genetic material is converted to DNA with a protein called reverse transcriptase (RT). The next step in infection is the movement (importation) of the viral genes into the target cell's "nucleus," a compartment where the human chromosomes and genome are duplicated. By blocking this translocation of the HIV-1 genes into the nucleus with a specific compound, viral replication is inhibited




PPI-367: Represents the first of a new class of small molecule NEXT™ inhibitors of HIV-1. PPI-367 was selected through structure-based design and molecular modeling of a 200,000 compound library using the resolved NMR and X-ray structures of the HIV-1 Matrix (MA) protein. Subsequent evaluation in cell-based HIV-1 infectivity assays revealed that PPI-367 was the most potent of the ~100 compounds selected from the modeling screen

[Iggy]

Annual sales of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of antiviral infections are over $16 billion globally and are projected to approach $25 billion by 2011. HIV drugs currently account for the majority of annual sales, generating in excess of $8 billion, and should continue to help drive the overall antiviral market, with projected growth of almost 10% annually. Even after 25 years of increasing prevention, diagnosis, and treatment efforts, there are approximately one million individuals infected with HIV in the United States today, with approximately 40,000 new infections each year. In addition, over 20% of these newly-infected individuals are infected with strains that are already resistant to one or more existing therapies. HIV is expected to continue to adapt and develop resistance to current and future therapies, so that new approaches will continue to be needed within the existing combination treatment paradigm.

Bim,

I'm will read more about what you posted but I think you completely miss what people talk about when they mention suspicions of the pharmaceutical industry....just a heads up - it pretty much is stated in your own post as quoted above!

I also don't think anyone thinks that the industry is monolithic or that money ISN'T flowing in....It's that so much money IS flowing in that is sort of the issue.

[bimazek]

Would it be better if there was not market or sales of anti hiv drugs?

In USA only, lets keep this tread to just this topic, in USA, with 1 million people getting HIV meds, and only a few hundred not getting them, mostly because of historic homophobia, homohatred in So carolina and puerto rico.  I think the congress with ADAP and such are care for us guys pretty well.

if you wanta talk about the med system in general, in USA, there should be universal coverage

a big sales volume is off set in aids meds sales by new research and research into 197 other cancers and diseases

hiv was first big tech genetic disease that was attacked with new pharma ... all the tech and science that evolved.

the issue really about the money is that the Med insurance companies are stealing profit by denying care and paying admin and exec billions...

pharma is doing research and saving lives

the co pay is too high perhaps

really i dont want this thread to be about any of that

just that there is tons and tons of hope

imagine a nuke or a non nuke... like they are reporting above that is immune to the resistance profile of all other nukes or non nukes

that is a great big breakthru

and with all the new vaccines for TREATment on the way and gene therapy and such

for me i am newly infected less than 2 year i am trying to stay hopeful

i am terrified but hopeful

that very mild side effect meds or vacc. etc will be out soon

yes the price was set to high and yes the greed of a epidemic and these life savings drugs allowed them to set he price to high

what is the main complaint that co-pays are hurting people

that the 700 people who did not get hiv meds last year in so carolina puerto rico etc

just stay on usa issue on this tread i am trying to understand

peoples difficulty

thanks

[Iggy]

Bim,

WIth all due respect - I don't think you have actually made a topic to not stray from for this thread.

You aren't making any sense.

Seriously.

[JamieD]

with 1 million people getting HIV meds,

Can you cite a reference for this, please? I don't believe that the 1 million or so diagnosed people with HIV are all on anti-HIV medications. Medication can be deferred for quite some time.

[milker]

bimazek, what are you terrified about ? You should start a new thread about this because it seems that your life with HIV is not going well. Please let us know, may be we can help.

Milker.

[Customer]

The people working in the pharma and developing drugs are ordinary people trying to get rich. If somebody gets rich on developing new effective ways to combat disease, then let him get rich. It's none of our concern. I think people and companies who make big innovations, and thereby save millions of lives, DESERVE TO GET RICH. It is beneficial for all HIV-positive that the most talented brains are employed in the pharmaceutical industry. So let the best of them have a reward for their job.

Conspiracy talk is non-sense. The pharma and insurance sectors operate under same general principles of economy. They operate within limits set by the laws. There might be corrption, and things like that, but that is not specific pharmaceutical industry -its everywhere. Don't let desperation breed hate in you.

[Iggy]

The people working in the pharma and developing drugs are ordinary people trying to get rich. If somebody gets rich on developing new effective ways to combat disease, then let him get rich. It's none of our concern. I think people and companies who make big innovations, and thereby save millions of lives, DESERVE TO GET RICH. It is beneficial for all HIV-positive that the most talented brains are employed in the pharmaceutical industry. So let the best of them have a reward for their job.

Conspiracy talk is non-sense. The pharma and insurance sectors operate under same general principles of economy. They operate within limits set by the laws. There might be corruption, and things like that, but that is not specific pharmaceutical industry -its everywhere. Don't let desperation breed hate in you.

I'm sorry but have you a read a single account of any of the pharma issues in the last year or so?  ANY? 

Labeling legitimate questioning of the flow of money with the pharma industry is desperation and hate?  Really?   Please explain.

[bimazek]

Can you cite a reference for this, please? I don't believe that the 1 million or so diagnosed people with HIV are all on anti-HIV medications. Medication can be deferred for quite some time.

Change that to

about one million

you guys can be so literal

my point is that congress and adap and etc is doing a pretty good job of taking care of a bunch of us

and there is a small % that are falling thru cracks at least in access to meds

maybe i am wrong

[Iggy]

Change that to

about one million

you guys can be so literal

my point is that congress and adap and etc is doing a pretty good job of taking care of a bunch of us

and there is a small % that are falling thru cracks at least in access to meds

maybe i am wrong

You are about congress doing a pretty good job and I'm not sure if there is such a notion that any % to slip through the cracks is acceptable.