PainCeptor Pharma is a private Canadian company focused on the development of drugs that act outside the central nervous system on nociceptors to treat pain.[3] The company was established in 2004 through the merger of two academic spinout firms: Antalium from McGill University and NeuroCeptor from Queens University.[4][5] At its inception, the company's primary operations were in Montreal and Kingston,[5] and it established a partnership with the Danish company NeuroSearch as part of its birth.[2]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pharmaceutical |
| Predecessor | Antalium and NeuroCeptor through merger |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec[1] , Canada |
Key people | Louis Lamontagne (President, 2004- )[1][2] |
Number of employees | 45 (2007)[1] |
About PainCeptor
editThe company's strategic focus was on peripheral rather than central-acting therapeutics is an attempt to avoid the known side effects of existing central-acting agents.[6] The primary molecular targets addressed by PainCeptor are members of the ASIC ion channel family and nerve growth factor (NGF) and NGF receptors.[6] In 2006, the company secured funding from the Canadian Industrial Research Assistance Program.[7] In 2007, the company raised C$24.4 million in venture capital funding in anticipation of starting first-in-man clinical trials that year; an initial round of funding had been secured in 2004 in the amount of C$23 million.[1][2] As of 2007, the company conducted research out of the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, a facility of Canada's National Research Council located in Ottawa, Quebec.[1]
Although PainCeptor refers to itself as a biopharmaceutical company on its website,[3] its two primary publicly reported drug discovery projects aim to deliver small molecule therapeutics.[6] According to AdisInsight, a drug information platform published by Springer Nature, the small-molecule antagonists program discontinued in 2009;[8] while development of a separate drug, PPC-5650 (an ASIC channel antagonist) had been discontinued by 2016.[9]
Intellectual property
editAccording to one source, in 2006 the company was granted patent protection on antagonists of each of these receptor types.[10] Inspection of the patent applications, though, shows that no patents were, in fact, granted. In regard to US2005282840A1 "Methods of modulating neurotrophin-mediated activity", the application status was revised to 'abandoned' in 2009;[11] a second patent application, US2007123514A1, bearing the same title has also been noted to be 'abandoned' as of 2010.[12] Likewise, in regard to US2008004282A1 "Compositions and methods for modulating gated ion channels", the application status was revised to 'abandoned' in 2010.[13] Still another patent application was 'abandoned' in 2011, US2009082368A1 "Methods of Modulating Neurotrophin-mediated Activity".[14] One patent was actually granted to the firm, US2007191418A1 "Compositions and methods for modulating gated ion channels", in 2007; this patent transferred ownership to Aros Pharma in 2010, who subsequently did not keep up payment of maintenance fees, resulting in the status changing to 'lapsed' in 2018.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Hill, Bert (March 7, 2007). "PainCeptor raises $24.4 million in new capital". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. p. D3. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Hill, Bert (March 23, 2004). "New biopharm firm looks to Ottawa for lab space". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario: Ottawa Citizen Group. p. E3. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "PainCeptor Pharma corporate home page". PainCeptor Pharma public corporate website. Archived from the original on 2007-09-02. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ Staff (April 5, 2004). "The double-barreled approach". BioCentury. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
Newly formed PainCeptor Pharma Corp. brings together two small Canadian pain companies, each of which was focused on a different target. NeuroCeptor Inc., a spinout from Queens University, was studying the role of neurotrophins, specifically nerve growth factor (NGF), in pain, Antalium Inc., a spinout from McGill University....
- ^ a b Staff (March 25, 2004). "University spin-offs merge". FastTrack. The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec: CanWest. p. B6. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Dimond, Patricia F. (2007-10-01). "Revamping Drug Discovery Strategies". Drug Discovery. Genetic Engineering News. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ "Organization: Industrial Research Assistance Program". Research Money. February 14, 2006. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
- ^ "Research programme: ASIC and NGF/p75 antagonists - PainCeptor". AdisInsight Drugs. Springer Nature. October 25, 2011. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
- ^ "PPC 5650". AdisInsight Drugs. Springer Nature. March 24, 2016. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
- ^ Chu, Wai Lang (October 3, 2006). "PainCeptor Pharma adds patients to pain portfolio". Outsourcing-Pharma.com. William Reed Business Media. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
- ^ "US2005282840A1". Espacenet. Legal events. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020. See also the Patent Family tab for related publication identifiers.
- ^ "US2008004282A1". Espacenet. Legal events. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020. See also the Patent family tab for related publication identifiers.
- ^ "US2007123514A1". Espacenet. Legal events. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020. See also the Patent family tab for related publication identifiers.
- ^ "US2009082368A1". Espacenet. Legal events. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020. See also the Patent family tab for related publication identifiers.
- ^ "US2007191418A1". Espacenet. Legal events. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020. See also the Patent family tab for related publication identifiers.
Further reading
edit- Wortman, Marc (September 1, 2005). "PainCeptor Pharma Corp". Scrip (Analysis). Informa Pharma Intelligence. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
- "List of pharmaceutical companies in Canada—Top 25 best". bestofhealthindia.com. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020. Note that PainCeptor appears on the 'rest of the 25' listing below those companies that received a description including addressing information.
- Rash, Lachlan D. (2017). "Chapter Two: Acid-Sensing Ion Channel Pharmacology, Past, Present, and Future...". In Geraghty, Dominic; Rash, Lachlan D. (eds.). Ion Channels Downunder. Advances in Pharmacology. Academic Press (Elsevier). pp. 50–1. ISBN 978-0-12-810413-2. Information about compound PPC-5650.
Directory listings
edit- "Companies of Canada". Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.
copy of information available at www.ic.gc.ca
- "Bloomberg Company Profile". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 10 Jan 2020.