BR biotech company succeeds in drug test

• By TED GRIGGS
• Advocate business writer
• Published: May 5, 2009 - Page: 1B

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Baton Rouge biotech startup Esperance Pharmaceuticals has cleared a major research hurdle by showing that its first cancer treatment drug sought out and destroyed ovarian cancer cells that had been transplanted in mice.

Esperance presented its preliminary findings at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in late April.

“This means a lot, in two ways,” company President Hector Alila said. “One is it means the company, in terms of valuation, has improved dramatically.”

Secondly, the successful preclinical trial is good news for LSU, which developed the technology; Louisiana’s biotech industry; and the state as a whole, Alila said.

It’s virtually impossible to start a biotech company and move a drug forward in clinical trials, Alila said.

Out of 5,000 to 10,000 compounds screened, only 250 make it to preclinical testing, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Of those 250 preclinical-tested drugs, only five enter human clinical trials; and only one of those wins the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval.

With the successful preclinical testing out of the way, Esperance is now preparing for a Phase I clinical trial, or tests that prove the drug is not harmful to humans, on ovarian cancer patients, Alila said. Esperance hopes to begin the Phase I testing as early as June or July.

Esperance’s drug works by targeting a specific molecule on the surface of cancer cells then destroying the cell walls. The Esperance drug doesn’t harm healthy cells.

In addition to ovarian cancer, Esperance, which has its headquarters and laboratories at the Louisiana Emerging Technology Center, says that the targeted molecule is present in a number of other cancers, including breast, prostate and testicular.

Esperance was founded on technology discovered and patented by scientists at the LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the LSU Agricultural Center and LSU itself.

Esperance’s drug could also improve safety, since it would offer a gentler alternative to radiation or chemotherapy, Alila said. Ovarian cancer has proven resistant to the latter courses of treatment.

Alila said the preclinical test results also showed Esperance’s drug reduced a molecule used to track the presence of cancer. That biomarker is the same one used in human trials, he said.

Joseph F. Lovett, Esperance board chairman, said the company’s success validates the strategy proposed three or four years ago.