Excaliard has in-licensed a series of antisense oligonucleotides (ASO), from Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIS) which target various genes known to regulate fibrosis and scarring. The agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals was announced in November 2007, adding Excaliard to Isis Pharmaceuticals’ growing list of pharmaceutical partners, which currently includes Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ortho Division of Johnson & Johnson, as well as Genzyme.
Skin scarring
Excaliard has focused its initial clinical programs on unsatisfactory skin scarring for which there are no currently approved products in the United States. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports that well over 1.5 million cosmetic surgical procedures and over 5 million reconstructive procedures were performed in the US in 2009. Over $1.2 billion was spent on breast cosmetic procedures alone. In addition, market opportunities exist in other non-cosmetic surgical scars such as Caesarian sections (1.3 million/yr in the US), as well as trauma and burn patients. In the USA alone, there are over 35 million surgical procedures annually. Despite the best surgical technique and post-operative wound care, many procedures result in undesirable skin scarring. In addition to fine line scarring, scars can be raised (hypertrophic) or even grow beyond the original site of injury (keloids). The prevalence of hypertrophic scarring has been reported to be as high as 70% in certain populations, creating significant market.
Technology
Excaliard has in-licensed from Isis and has internally developed an anti- scarring drug program, including multiple drug candidates, both clinical and pre-clinical, against multiple drug targets. The company has exclusive IP composition of matter patents filed on lead candidates including EXC 001. Through a separate research agreement, the company also has broad access to ISIS’s technical expertise in oligonucleotide discovery and informatics, pharmacology, toxicology and broad non-exclusive licenses to ISIS’s antisense IP estate.
Excaliard Business Development Goals
Excaliard has successfully completed three Phase 2 trials in elective surgical procedures. These studies demonstrated the efficacy and safety of EXC 001 in elective revision surgery of scars resulting from prior breast surgery, in fine line scars in elective abdominoplasty surgery and in a biomarker study of abdominal scarring.
For information about business development opportunities at Excaliard Pharmaceuticals please contact business.development@excaliard.com
