An early stage pharmaceutical company with newly licensed anticancer, anti-inflammatory and nanoparticle drug-delivery technologies is looking for its first round of funding.
Pono Pharma, which was founded earlier this year with three technologies licensed from the University of Hawai’i, has already raised $1.5 million of a planned $4 million.
The most novel of its drug candidates uses humanized cobra venom factor (CVF), a key protein in snake toxin. In studies, CVF has been found to subdue the body’s complement system, which is part of the immune system that activates cell killing. Currently in preclinical trials, CVF could be effective in treating physical trauma, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
A second technology the company is developing is a new class of proteasome inhibitors, which stop the degradation of proteins in cancer cell nuclei and initiate programmed cell death. Called syrbactins, these proteasome inhibitors have a unique chemical structure and bonding mechanism that could help patients overcome drug resistivity, the company says.
Proteasome inhibitors are already being used in the world of cancer therapeutics. Bortezomib, marketed by Takeda subsidiary Millennium, is a proteasome inhibitor approved for multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals and Cephalon also have similar candidates in clinical trials.
Pono’s third technology is a hybrid nanocarrier drug-delivery system that could target drugs directly to infected cancer cells. It’s been found to be especially effective in overcoming drug resistivity in diseases of neuroectodermal origin, the company says.
Nanocarriers, or nanoparticles, have become a popular approach for drug delivery in recent years and will account for nearly half of the forecast $136 billion nanotechnology-enabled drug-delivery market by 2021, according to Cientifica’s 2012 market report.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In an email, Pono CEO Dustin Shindo declined to comment on the company’s upcoming milestones or which drug could possibly emerge as a lead candidate.
