licensing pyc38

Originally, when the grant of a US patent for PYC38 was announced on February, 23rd 2012, it appeared to be a case of just another interesting development. We had little to go on from which shareholders could assess its importance. Well, now we do!

Firstly, PYC38 is a phylomer peptide which demonstrates 'potent rescue from death of brain cells' in models of neuronal death e.g. stroke, TBI and neurodegenerative disorders. Importantly the peptide targets the intracellular space. Reading from the patent application; neurodegenerative disorders include Huntington's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.

So what do we now know which wasn't disclosed in the original announcement? Back to the recent Nick Woolf interview on FNN. One of the questions fielded by Woolf related to the grant of the US patent.

Woolf commented that PYC38 has been taken through a number of pre-clinical studies and has shown proof of concept in terms of efficacy. Note: PYC38 is targeting treatment for some of the world's major unmet medical needs in the neuro degenerative field.

Importantly, "its one of the prospective candidates that we are now in discussions with a number of pharmaceutical companies around potentially licensing," said Woolf.

PYC38 didn't come down in the last shower. The application was lodged in 2007 necessitating a patient wait by scientists and management. The timing for the grant of the patent, however, is superb. Phylogica has within the space of the last couple of years established its reputation as a world class peptide drug discovery biotech company. The value of PYC38 has undoubtedly grown along with the corporate reputation and intrinsic value of the phylomer libraries.

A potential licensing agreement? Several pharmaceutical companies are currently negotiating for the right to license PYC38. Shareholders have been waiting for a licensing opportunity from one of the current collaborations - hopefully they will emerge. Out of left field, however, comes a licensing opportunity for one of Phylogica's key in-house programs. I'm beginning to see why Woolf is looking so confident in providing financial guidance.