Borean Pharma acquires Proteopharma and promising arterial drug

Danish company Borean Pharma has acquired the Aarhus-based biotech company Proteopharma, which holds patents for a protein that may reduce arterial cholesterol plaque and prevent blood clots.

Borean Pharma was established to develop a new generation of pharmaceutical protein products. Its proprietary technology enables it to develop a new generation of highly efficacious antibody analogues that can be easily produced in E.coli, thus overcoming a major shortcoming of monoclonal antibodies.

Proteopharma is the leader in the development of improved versions of the naturally occurring Apolipo-protein A-I (ApoA-I), which is the major protein component of High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) that keep arteries from accumulating brittle plaque. Proteopharma has, in collaboration with Borean Pharma, developed a trimerised ApoA-I protein, which is a single protein carrying three Apolipoprotein A-I entities. The trimerised ApoA-l protein has a three-fold increased plasma half-life as compared to the naturally occurring monomeric version of ApoA-I and has also been shown to reduce plaque size in mice arteries more effectively than the naturally occurring monomeric form of ApoA-I.

'This acquisition of Proteopharma is very logical for Borean because of the two companies' complementary technologies and the unique arterial drug that is in development,' said Dr Riku Rautsola, Borean Pharma's ceo. "Borean holds patents for the technology that Proteopharma used in the development of this novel product candidate, so Borean now owns all the intellectual property associated with the product; we are currently discussing potential collaborations with the five leading pharmaceutical companies.

'As the trimerised ApoA-I has been constructed by the use of Borean Pharma's proprietary trimerisation module, this drug candidate fits perfectly into our overall business strategy and we look forward to beginning human clinical trials in the near future.'