Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc. secures license to expand use of therapeutics for women’s health issues

(Detroit, Mich.) Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced recently that it has exclusively licensed a patent-pending technology co-owned by Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, 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 three million women in the U.S. 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 21st 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 Dr. Robert Casper, senior investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital and Drs. Michael Diamond and Mohamed Mitwally at Wayne State University. 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, Strategic Partnering International. Dr. Jack Luderer, Medtrina’s Chief Medical Officer, was a former Vice President at Pharmacia.

Dr. Michael Diamond of Wayne State University stated, “Approximately 1.4 million women do not respond to current drug treatment for abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) 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.”

About Wayne State University
Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about Wayne State University, please visit www.wayne.edu.

About Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies that treat women’s reproductive system disorders, with an initial focus on gynecologic and aromatase-mediated conditions with serious unmet medical needs. By identifying, leveraging and repurposing marketed products and product candidates at advanced stages of development, Meditrina’s novel therapies have the potential to significantly alter the way these women’s health conditions are treated. For more information about Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.meditrina.com.