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- PYC Therapeutics (PYC) recently finalised its lead drug molecule in the final quarter of 2019
- Its lead drug is a treatment for a type of Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is the main cause of childhood blindness
- The company is hoping to start the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to enable studies in the first half of this year
- Depending on the success of these studies, the drug is expected to be applied to human trials next year
- PYC is up 8.47 per cent and shares are trading for 6.4 cent apiece
PYC Therapeutics (PYC) recently finalised its lead drug molecule in the final quarter of 2019.
Its lead drug is a treatment for a form of Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is the main cause of childhood blindness.
The company anticipates starting the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to enable studies to commence in the first half of 2020.
Upon the success of the IND studies, the drug is expected to see human trials next year.
PYC’s lead drug is comprised of two primary elements joined together:
A drug cargo– an RNA therapeutic or a precision medicine known as Anti-Sense
Oligonucleotide (ASO); and
A delivery vehicle: A Cell Penetrating Peptide (CPP) that delivers the drug cargo to
the diseased cell and across the cell membrane to the target in the diseased cell’s
nucleus.
“In order to arrive at the drug molecule with the highest chance of success in clinical development, more than 200 CPPs have been evaluated in animals and 74 ASOs tested in cells along with multiple linkers before the decision on the optimal combination was made,” the company said.
“This extensive preclinical work-up leaves us with the strongest prospects of success in the transition to first in human studies and beyond,” it added.
The pharmaceutical industry trend towards RNA therapeutics is very strong and PYC is benefiting from this trend through the expansion of its pipeline and evaluation of additional target tissues and indications to pursue beyond the eye.
According to PYC, there are no known competitors in our multi-billion dollar target indication.
PYC is up 8.47 per cent on the market this afternoon, with shares trading for 6.4 cents apiece at 1:15pm AEDT.
