TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – March 18, 2015) – Arch Biopartners Inc (“Arch”) or the “Company”)(TSX VENTURE:ACH) and (OTCBB:FOIFF) announced today it has identified a new candidate drug to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infections.
This new drug is the result of development work performed during 2014 and early 2015 by Dr. Daniel Hassett at the University of Cincinnati (“UC”).
Arch management believes this new drug has the potential to be a major break through in the treatment of P. aeruginosa respiratory infections. During the upcoming year, Arch is intending to move forward with a human trial to test the safety and efficacy of the new drug against P. aeruginosa respiratory infections in cystic fibrosis patients.
Arch has entered into a one year option agreement with UC to exclusively license the commercial rights to a pending U.S. Patent for the new drug treatment. Arch and UC have also extended for another year the existing option to license the commercial rights to a related U.S. Patent for treating bacterial respiratory infections using acidified nitrite
The new compound is potentially a new treatment against other bacterial lung and skin infections.
The Clinical Need for a New Treatment for P. Aeruginosoa
P. aeruginosa is a significant cause of bacterial respiratory infections in patients who have cystic fibrosis (CF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is also a common cause of pneumonia.
There are approximately 40,000 CF patients and over 14 million individuals diagnosed with COPD in the United States. It is estimated that 2 to 3 million people in the USA are diagnosed with pneumonia each year.
In particular, the mucoid form of P. aeruginosa is a very challenging infection to treat due to its high resistance to both antibiotics and phagocyte-mediated killing. Once patients present with the mucoid form of P. aeruginosa, their overall lung function precipitously declines, resulting in a poor prognosis.
Thus, there is an urgent clinical need for the development of novel effective treatments in this area. The technology developed by Dr. Hassett constitutes an innovative treatment for dealing with mucoid P. aeruginosa infections that are resistant to traditional antibiotics.
Cystic Fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive genetic disease that causes abnormalities of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. CFTR is a critical regulator of sweat, digestive fluids, and mucus production.
CF patients are predisposed to lung infections due to abnormal mucus production in the lungs and airways. P. aeruginosa infects 40% of CF patients between the ages of 6 and 10 years of age. By the age of 17, the frequency of infection increases to 60% and reaches 80% of all CF patients between the ages of 25 and 34.
About Arch Biopartners
Arch Biopartners is a portfolio based biotechnology company established to develop new products and technology for unmet medical needs. The Company’s portfolio includes MetaMx™ which targets brain tumor initiating cells (“BTICs”). Arch also is developing new treatments for Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infections, inflammation based diseases, sepsis and cancer metastasis (Metablok™).
For more information on the Company, please consult the other public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .
The Company now has 53,189,679 common shares outstanding following a shares for debt settlement whereby the Company issued 71,500 common shares at a deemed price of $0.35, pursuant to a press release issued on January 16, 2015.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements, other than statements of historical fact, in this news release are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions change.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
