In its most recent interim report, Verona Pharma says that it raised over £14 million pounds earlier this year which will allow it to continue development of its RPL554, an inhaled PDE3/PDE4 inhibitor, for the treatment of asthma and COPD. The company says that it is developing a new “commercially scalable” nebulized formulation of the drug.
The Chairman and CEO’s joint statement in the report says, “The financing raised in March 2014 enables us to advance the new commercially-scalable proprietary formulation for the product, through clinical studies up to the start of Phase 2b, which is expected in 2016. Our initial focus remains to develop the drug for hospital use in the treatment of acute exacerbations of COPD, where reducing re-admission rates is an emerging pharmacoeconomic impetus.”
“As we have previously stated, the company recognizes that the right development partner could bring significant value to the development of RPL554 for chronic maintenance treatment in COPD and perhaps asthma and therefore continues to be involved in business development discussions around the RPL554 program. However, the company intends to partner its drug candidates only when it can extract a commercially attractive return for the company and its shareholders,” the statement adds.
Verona stopped development on its VRP700 inhaled anti-tussive in June 2014, and the report notes, “Whilst we will not undertake any further in-house development of VRP700, we are exploring opportunities to realize value from this asset.”
Read the Verona Pharma report.
