Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc. secures license to expand use of therapeutics for women's health issues
Meditrina Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced recently that it has exclusively licensed a patent-pending technology co-owned by Wayne State University and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for repurposing the use of aromatase inhibitors for thinning of the endometrium prior to ablation or surgery in premenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). AUB is a significant medical problem that affects more than 3 million women in the United States. Initial start-up funding for Meditrina Pharmaceuticals was provided by the Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center at Western Michigan University and the State of Michigan's 21 st Century Jobs Fund.
The Company's first product candidate, Femathina (MPI-674), is an aromatase inhibitor (AI) already marketed for treating postmenopausal women with breast cancer. AIs inhibit the enzyme aromatase and thereby reduce the level of estrogen, which consequently has the potential to treat a variety of women's gynecological health indications. Current therapies for the thinning of the endometrium pre-ablation, an acute and serious women's health condition, are sub-optimal due to the long treatment duration need for injection, side effects and excessive cost. Meditrina Pharmaceuticals expects MPI-674 to have better long-term outcomes in terms of reducing excessive bleeding; oral administration; reduced treatment time and cost; and decreased side effects.
The inventors of Meditrina's technology include Drs. Michael Diamond and Mohamed Mitwally, of the WSU School of Medicine, and Dr. Robert Casper, senior investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital. Meditrina Pharmaceuticals was founded by Thomas A. Collet, president and CEO, and Holly Vene, COO and vice president of business development. Mr. Collet previously was CEO of ProNAi Therapeutics, Neural Intervention Technologies and Rubicon Genomics; and Ms. Vene was founder and president of Strategic Partnering International. Dr. Jack Luderer, Medtrina's chief medical officer, was a former vice president at Pharmacia.
Dr. Diamond, director of the WSU Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, said, Approximately 1.4 million women do not respond to current drug treatment for abnormal uterine bleeding and require hysterectomies or endometrial ablations. A hysterectomy will cure AUB, but endometrial ablation is growing rapidly as a cost-effective and patient-preferred alternative. He added, The procedure is most effective when the endometrium is thin because this promotes tissue destruction to the appropriate level. Current pre-treatments take time, are uncomfortable and are costly. We expect that MPI-674 will improve outcomes, take less pre-treatment time, and cost less.
According to Wayne State University's Associate Vice President for Technology Commercialization Fred Reinhart, This international collaboration between Wayne State University and Mount Sinai Hospital is an excellent example of faculty and our respective technology transfer professionals working together to improve medicine. He added, these three organizations are engaged in an impressive international effort to commercialize discoveries which benefit society, create jobs and make our economy stronger and more diversified. Their future discoveries through this licensing agreement will make a major difference in treating women's reproductive disorders.
Eric Stief, Technology Licensing Manager at WSU added, This transaction illustrates the opportunities that are available right now for determined entrepreneurs in Michigan and beyond. There are fantastic technologies at our universities on which to base a business, local skilled professionals looking for their next opportunity, and seed funding, while still hard to find, is more available. I commend the Meditrina team for tying it all together.
The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute fosters a culture of collaboration, stated Dr. James Woodgett, Director of Research, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. We are delighted that Dr. Casper's collaborative approach has resulted in the translation of innovative research.
This marks a major milestone for Meditrina Pharmaceuticals and all of our partners, said Thomas A. Collet, president and CEO, Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc. We hope this seamless collaboration and total team effort between academia/research, government and the corporate sector will serve as a model for identifying and advancing opportunities that will improve peoples' lives around the world."