Pfizer to Acquire Idun Pharmaceuticals

28-Feb-2005

Pfizer Inc announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Idun Pharmaceuticals Inc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of therapies to control apoptosis, a process of cell death that occurs in a broad range of diseases. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Idun has built a leading intellectual property position in apoptosis. The company has an extensive patent portfolio consisting of more than 150 issued patents covering drug targets, new chemical entities (NCEs), drug-screening assays, diagnostics and antibodies. Idun's technology is focused on the control of caspase activity. Caspases are a group of cellular proteases involved in the pathway of apoptosis and inflammation. Idun has developed therapeutic applications focused on inhibiting caspase activity as potential treatments for liver disease and inflammation. Idun also has programs targeting the activation of caspases as potential treatments for cancer.

Idun's lead compound, IDN-6556, a first-in-class pan caspase inhibitor, is in Phase II clinical trials in liver transplantation and in patients infected with Hepatitis C virus. Recently reported data from a Phase IIA study show that IDN-6556 given orally was well-tolerated and significantly improved markers of liver damage in patients infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), an infection that affects up to 170 million patients worldwide. IDN-6556 may represent a new class of drugs that protect the liver from inflammation and cellular damage induced by viral infections and other causes.

In addition to IDN-6556, Idun has a robust preclinical pipeline including a number of programs in inflammation and oncology.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/43748/pfizer-to-acquire-idun-pharmaceuticals.html