ProThera Biologics partners with Canadian firm to develop treatment for orphan diseases

PROMETIC LIFE Sciences Inc. has entered into a partnership with biotechnology company ProThera Biologics Inc. to develop and commercialize human plasma-derived inter-alpha inhibitor proteins. Pictured is Dr. Yow-Pim Lin, founder of ProThera Biologics. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
PROMETIC LIFE Sciences Inc. has entered into a partnership with biotechnology company ProThera Biologics Inc. to develop and commercialize human plasma-derived inter-alpha inhibitor proteins. Pictured is Dr. Yow-Pim Lin, founder of ProThera Biologics. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

(Updated 3:50 and 4:49 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. has entered into a partnership with biotechnology company ProThera Biologics Inc. to develop and commercialize human plasma-derived inter-alpha inhibitor proteins to treat orphan diseases, which are rare diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people.
According to a news release about the partnership, the Canadian biopharmaceutical company and ProThera each will perform development services in order to advance the inter-alpha inhibitor proteins to the clinic by 2017.
Richard Horan, senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund, said the deal is of “considerable strategic importance to ProThera” as the company has partnered with one of the most established players in the blood fractionation business.
ProMetic has received an initial 11.25 percent equity stake in ProThera. That position will increase to 22.5 percent following the achievement of an early-stage development milestone, the release said. ProMetic also will exclusively manufacture IAIP for clinical trial requirements and commercial sales for all indications.
Pierre Laurin, president and CEO of ProMetic, said ProThera’s “world-class understanding of IAIP and unique intellectual property will contribute to the successful development and commercialization of this plasma-driven protein.”
“We look forward to pursuing multiple unmet medical needs to be treated with IAIP by both ProMetic and ProThera,” Laurin said.

Dr. Yow-Pin Lim, founder and CEO of ProThera, said that accessing ProMetic’s proprietary manufacturing platform to produce “high quality plasma-derived therapeutics” and ProMetic’s industry knowledge were key factors in the company’s decision to form the partnership.
“We look forward to ProMetic joining ProThera as an equity and strategic commercialization partner and believe this will accelerate the development of our mutual IAIP clinical programs,” he said.

Denice M. Spero, ProThera president and chief business officer, said the deal is “mutually beneficial to both parties,” noting it gives ProMetic access to ProThera’s expertise in this field.
“We see this as a very long-term partnership. We’ve given them exclusive rights to manufacturing,” she said.
She said Lim developed the technology, and is leading the field.
“This is really the next quantum leap in treating inflammatory diseases,” Spero said.
She said ProThera employs 10 now, but expects to hire more workers as a result of the agreement with ProMetic.

Bruce Pritchard, chief operating officer of ProMetic, said the partnership also fits with the company’s goal to maximize revenue output from every liter of plasma processed under its proprietary platform as well as its goal of becoming a major player in development and marketing of “niche, high-value orphan drugs.”

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According to the release, inter-alpha inhibitor proteins are naturally occurring proteins found in high concentration in human plasma, and play an important role in the regulation of host immune response as they fight acute inflammatory diseases, including whole-body inflammation (shock syndrome or sepsis) due to infection, trauma or injury.

ProThera, founded in 2002, has been working on the development of products based on inter-alpha inhibitor proteins for treatment and detection of severe inflammatory diseases. The company received approximately $600,000 in seed funding from the Slater Technology Fund, and has raised nearly $8 million from multiple scientific and financial sources to advance the development of its technology over the past 10 years, the release said.

Horan said Slater recently provided an additional $200,000, and private partners provided $50,000, to help carry the company through the completion of the deal.

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