Neuprex is blowing in the wind
Zephyr Sciences Inc.'s first deal since its formation in the summer of 2003 underscores in bold the reprofiling concept, as the company is taking on a compound that had been the focus of two biotech efforts in the early 1990s and has failed in two different sets of Phase III trials. But Zephyr thinks it can breathe new life into Xoma Ltd.'s Neuprex opebecan and plans to reposition the compound in different indications.
In 1999, XOMA discontinued a Phase III trial of the bactericidal/permeability-increasing (BPI) protein in trauma patients with severe blood loss. The move followed a recommendation from an independent data safety monitoring board, which concluded that interim results were not sufficient to meet the predetermined efficacy criteria to continue the study (see BioCentury, Oct. 4, 1999). ...