Following last year's $1 billion pact with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), Concert Pharmaceuticals is continuing its drug delivery work and hoping the attract additional partners for its only clinical-stage program not covered by the GSK pact. Concert's technology, replacing hydrogen molecules in therapeutics with deuterium, can improve a drug's performance. Deuterium forms stronger bonds with a drugs other atoms, making it possible that patients could take lower drug doses and experience fewer side effects from existing meds.
The company's lead product candidate is CTP-518, an HIV treatment covered by the GSK pact. Another compound, CTP-347, is in Phase I testing as a non-hormonal treatment for vasomotor symptoms. CEO Roger Tung tells the Boston Globe that his company is working on getting more clinical data on CTP-347 and other experimental compounds so Concert can attract additional pharma partners.
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