AMT inks agreement with Progenika Biopharma for development of LPLchip

Oct 29 2009

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) and Progenika Biopharma announced today that the companies have entered into a development and commercialization agreement for LPLchip(TM), a diagnostic tool to rapidly diagnose patients with complete and partial lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD). AMT has developed Glybera(R) as a gene therapy for patients with this disease.

In June of this year AMT announced new clinical data showing that a one-time administration of its lead product Glybera(R) results in significant long-term health benefits for LPLD patients. Long-term follow-up data from two clinical trials with complete LPLD patients show that Glybera(R) therapy results in a significant and clinically important reduction in acute pancreatitis, the most debilitating complication of the disease. The data also confirm that the therapy is well-tolerated and safe. AMT intends to file Glybera(R) for marketing approval with EMEA by the end of this year.

LPLchip(TM) based on the Progenika's DNA-chip technology, will be used to rapidly diagnose patients with complete and partial LPLD and will be important to effectively identify patients that could benefit from Glybera (R).

AMT has selected Progenika as a partner for the development of LPLchip(TM) because of the company's long-standing expertise in the development of diagnostic chips and its access to both European and North American markets. Jorn Aldag, CEO of AMT commented: "We are delighted to work with Progenika on the development of the LPLchip(TM), as the company brings a unique expertise that fits the diagnostic needs for LPLD. LPLchip(TM) will be an important tool in early patient diagnosis, enabling us to make Glybera(R) available to the right patients as quickly as possible." Antonio Martinez, CEO of Progenika Biopharma said: "This collaborative project demonstrates how DNA-based diagnostics and highly targeted gene therapy can be combined to bring personalized medicine to patient groups whose medical needs were previously unmet."

SOURCE Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics B.V