Town and County-based Defender Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is working with federal agencies to develop drug candidates, on Monday said it's taking the next step to commercialize a number of vaccines for tropical diseases.
Defender said it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA), part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, to develop and commercialize eight vaccines for tropical diseases. The agreement was entered into July 25, officials said.
Defender said in a news release the licensing agreement includes eight investigational vaccines in the Army’s Special Immunization Program. Plans call for USAMMDA to transfer investigational new drug applications for the eight vaccines to Defender, which will continue development of the vaccine candidates. The product candidates include vaccines for tularemia (rabbit virus); Venezuelan equine encephalitis; eastern equine encephalitis; western equine encephalitis; Rift Valley fever; chikungunya and Q fever.
“Entering into this license agreement with the U.S. Army is a significant step forward for Defender as a company and reinforces the strong and highly collaborative relationship we have established with the U.S. military and other government agencies,” Barry Feinberg, president and CEO of Defender, said in a statement. “We are excited to begin work on these important and potentially life-saving products to protect not only our nation’s warfighters but everyone throughout the world exposed to these disease threats.”
Defender, with its corporate headquarters at 12935 N. Outer 40 Road, also has worked with the U.S. Navy, NASA and Department of Veterans Affairs on drug candidates that would be used by populations affiliated with those agencies. The company believes its drugs have commercial opportunities, too.
Defender announced the licensing agreement with USAMMDA just days after saying it had submitted its new drug application to U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its lead drug candidate, DPI-386 Nasal Gel, which is designed to prevent vomiting and nausea from motion sickness. The FDA submission comes after Defender said in June it had “positive results” in a phase III clinical trial for the drug in preventing nausea and vomiting from motion. The clinical trial involved exposing participants to motion by taking them out on boats in the Pacific Ocean. Defender said the reduction in moderate-severe nausea in the clinical trial from its drug candidate was “demonstrated to be statistically superior” to the placebo.
The motion sickness drug being developed by Defender is one of several drugs it believes can be commercialized from its lead drug compound, scopolamine. It says it's a drug that has been used previously for motion sickness. Defender has focused on using the compound to develop intranasal drugs, which it says allows for therapeutics that are easy to use and provide “rapid onset of action.”
Defender is also pursuing drug candidates for major depressive disorder, chemical attacks, virtual reality sickness and traumatic brain injury. The company said it is working on using intranasal scopolamine as a treatment for various depressive disorders, with plans to begin phase II trials later this year on that drug candidate.
Defender said it has raised about $70 million from investors through private offerings. It said it has recently launched a new private offering with a goal of raising about $15 million. The firm has 23 employees, with nine located in St. Louis and 14 in San Diego, where Defender has a laboratory and manufacturing site.
