re: re. holding up & ferret Yesterday the stock traded at $1.38,...

re: re. holding up & ferret Yesterday the stock traded at $1.38, up 5.5c on the previous session.

Alchemia's lead compound is a generic version of a synthetic called heparin that is anticipated to be ready for market in North America by 2008.

Its core technology is carbohydrate synthesis which is used for drug discovery and development and manufacturing.

Advertisement:
Now Alchemia is taking a new direction after being offered a $2.9 million Australian Government Commercial Ready grant for the development of a new treatment for eye diseases.

Alchemia is developing novel anti-angiogenic compounds, which inhibit new blood vessel formation, as a potential therapeutic for debilitating eye diseases such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Diabetic Retinopathy (DR).

The grant will contribute to funding preclinical development and testing, and assist Alchemia in advancing a suitable new drug candidate to phase I human clinical trials.

Alchemia's managing director, Dr Tracie Ramsdale, said the Commercial Ready grant was the fifth Australian government grant awarded to the company since its inception in 1995.

"We are enormously grateful for the strong support of the Australian Government and the continued recognition of our promising drug development programs," she said.

AMD and DR are diseases characterised by abnormal blood vessel formation at the back of the eye, which then leak blood into the centre of the eye causing vision loss and eventual blindness.

"There is currently a significant unmet medical need for the treatment of these incapacitating eye diseases, with no cure, extremely limited therapeutic options and rapidly increasing global incidence," Dr Ramsdale said.

"It is estimated that 1.75 million US residents have significant symptoms associated with AMD, which is expected to grow to three million by 2020.

DR is estimated to affect half of all diabetics during the course of their disease progression, representing 9.1 million potential sufferers in 2002 in the US alone."

Dr Ramsdale said Alchemia's anti-angiogenic compounds belonged to a novel class of small molecule 'somatostatin agonists' that provide a multi-point attack on blood vessel growth, thereby providing multiple opportunities to affect the disease progression of AMD and DR.

"We believe by targeting somatostatin receptors our eye disease compounds have the potential to provide a number of benefits over existing treatments and other therapeutics currently in development," she said.

SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS

*********************

Shares of Alchemia yesterday rose 5.5c to $1.38. Rolling high for the has been $1.63 and low 49c. The company has 98.5 million shares on issue with a market cap of $131.1 million.

Preliminary animal studies using Alchemia's compound have demonstrated a dose-related statistically significant inhibition of new blood vessel growth in the cornea, after the site was stimulated with angiogenesis (blood vessel growth)-inducing agents.

Dr Ramsdale said Alchemia's anti-angiogenic compounds were discovered using the company's proprietary drug discovery technology VAST and also had applications for treating cancer.

Commercial Ready is a competitive merit-based grant program from the Australian Government supporting innovation and its commercialisation.

The grants, which provide funding for up to 50 per cent of eligible project expenditure, are for early-stage commercialisation activities and R&D with high commercial potential.

BACKGROUND

**********

Alchemia was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in December 2003.

But the company was established in 1995 by three scientists, Professor Peter Andrews, Dr Tracie Ramsdale and Professor Istvan Toth, who joined forces to take on the formidable challenge of unlocking the therapeutic potential of carbohydrates - one of the last remaining groups of biological macromolecules with significant untapped potential.

In early 1998, after two years of successful preliminary research, Alchemia raised its first round of venture capital from the Australian Technology Group (ATG) and established its research laboratories in Brisbane.

Since then, the company has been strongly supported by the Australian venture capital industry, having raised $26 million from a number of specialised biotechnology investors including ATG, Medica Holdings, CM Capital, GBS, Biotech Capital, AMWIN, Start-up Australia, Orbit Capital, and Northstate Capital.

The company also received strong support from the Australian Government through receipt of $7 million to date, from the Government's R&D START Program.

In December 2000 Alchemia entered into a strategic manufacturing alliance with The Dow Chemical Company, the largest global chemical manufacturer, to jointly develop commercial processes for the manufacture of carbohydrates of high therapeutic value.

In October 2003 Alchemia entered into a partnership with American Pharmaceutical Partners, a US specialty pharmaceutical company, to bring to market the first product of the Alchemia-Dow alliance - a synthetic carbohydrate for the prevention of thrombosis.

Alchemia's intellectual property portfolio is protected by patents and patent applications.

The first three of these have been granted in both the US and Australia.

Alchemia has a further four applications under national phase examination in a number of jurisdictions throughout the world, including the US, Europe, Australia and Japan.

A further eight applications are currently under international examination and are expected to proceed to the national phase by 2005.

The company is committed to the next phase of its development, which will focus on the commercialisation of Alchemia's first product, Synthetic Heparin (fondaparinux).

The company is also focused on the advancement of a number of Alchemia's other drug leads to a point where they are ready to be partnered with the major industry players ultimately required to take drug candidates to market.