Emerging Drug Developer: Osprey Pharmaceuticals USA

Osprey Pharmaceuticals USA

Jack Anthony has been around the biotech block, and back. In addition to a 16-year stint at Baxter Healthcare, he's worked on a slate of biotech companies. And just about a year ago he was named CEO of tiny Osprey Pharmaceuticals USA.

"Osprey is my eighth biotech in 22 years," says the self-described grizzled veteran. "This is my last biotech as well."

While research work is largely concentrated in Montreal, the USA side of the business was set up in San Francisco to satisfy international investors who couldn't invest into Canada for tax reasons. Now two people work in San Francisco for the start-up biotech while seven are based in Montreal.

Osprey is working with science developed by John McDonald, PhD, who focused on the role that chemokines play in disease. These are "cytokines are produced by injured or diseased tissue when autoimmune or inflammatory diseases flare up, recruiting leukocytes to the problem." Osprey is advancing Leukocyte Population Modulators--fusion protein therapeutics that express the chemokine receptor for the chemokine produced in the diseased tissues.

Says Anthony: "The IP is whistle clean."

It's also very early stage.

"It is what we call a IB safety trial," says Barbara Finck, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer. "It's focused on a population that has inflammatory kidney disease. When the kidney is inflamed, regardless of the cause, diabetes, systemic lupus, etcetera, the injured kidney secretes a chemokine that is spilled in the urine, which is responsible for trafficking leukocytes to the site of injury. The chemokine draws in microphages; some come in to clean up the mess and some to cause havoc by secreting additional mediators and recruiting additional leukocytes (white cells) to the already injured tissue."

Osprey's goal is to dispatch a decoy "that attaches to the macrophage. It will internalize an enzyme and immobilize the cell," preventing the damage it can do.

There's a platform potential for building a pipeline in the space.

"There are some 50 chemokines out there," notes Anthony. "We've come up with a
portfolio of 12 drugs differentiated by the chemokine so you can strike out at a lot of different diseases."

But not too fast.

"Tiny companies like us can't afford to dilute efforts no matter what," says Anthony. "We decided to pick one that the literature suggests we should take where we want to go. We can pick patients that have low levels of inflammation but who can give us data to understand it better. Now there's a complex exercise underway to figure out what the next drug is we will take out of the freezer; see if this pony can do two tricks and not just one."

This first trial will recruit fewer than 30 patients. "There could be a total of 15 patients," says Finck, "with two or three in each dose cohort. We expect to see preliminary data by the end of the first quarter or the middle of the second quarter next year."

The objective now is to establish that the therapy is safe and see if it's specific against activated leukocytes. The trial will observe any changes in key biomarkers. "If we see the needle quiver a little," adds Finck, "that will be a great day at Osprey."

"I want to get into the trial," observes Anthony. "That changes the perception of who we are. We want to get safety data tacked down so we all feel good about this biological. Then people with a franchise in the kidney area can start calling. It's all about value."

Osprey will have enough money to better explore its potential. Osprey announced an $11 million first round last week. The financing was led by Burrill & Company with participation from Novo Nordisk Biotech Fund (Novo Nordisk's internal corporate venture fund), Yasuda Enterprise Development, GeneChem Therapeutics Venture Fund, BDC Venture Capital, Inc. and Western Technology Seed Investment Fund.

But how long are they all willing to wait for the first licensing deal?

"Would I hold out to Phase II results?" asks Anthony. "That's the perfect world. But the economy is tougher; you have to sustain viable operations. I like doing partnerships. It's silly to build infrastructure. Let's do what we do well, and then hand it off to people are set up to make a run for the roses."

And along the way, if Anthony and Finck can help build the company into a biotech with 12 drugs and around 100 indications, that could be a considerable success.

"I think we'll grow," adds Anthony. "If you come back in two years you'll probably find 16 or 17 people. We need project management, alliance management. And we'd like to have a secretary, too, someday. It's all about focus, focus, focus and hold off on the extraneous stuff until you have real traction."