Valentis betting on del-1

Valentis Inc. has pursued a path of acquisitions to put together a bag of gene delivery technologies for therapeutic development. The company was created through the merger of Megabios Corp. and GeneMedicine Inc., and later acquired PolyMasc Pharmaceuticals plc. But following last week's restructuring, VLTS is left with an in-licensed compound, del-1, as its only clinical program.

The developmentally regulated endothelial locus-1 (del-1) gene, which promotes angiogenesis, is in Phase I/II testing to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD). VLTS (Burlingame, Calif.), which in-licensed the compound from Progenitor Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.) in 1999, also has filed an IND to start testing the product in ischemic heart disease using its cationic lipid delivery. ...