Cytochroma Announces Positive Comparative Data on CTA018 in Chronic Kidney Dis...( CTA018 Confers Therapeutic and Sa...),Health

CTA018 Confers Therapeutic and Safety Advantages Over Current Therapies

MARKHAM, Ontario, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytochroma today announced positive comparative data on a novel vitamin D analog, CTA018, at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) in Philadelphia. In preclinical models, CTA018 has demonstrated advantages over two marketed vitamin D hormone replacement therapies, calcitriol and paricalcitol (Zemplar(R)), the latter currently being the most widely used therapy for secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in the United States (U.S.). These data were presented in a poster presentation entitled "The Metabolic Profile of CTA018 Confers Therapeutic and Safety Advantages over Current Therapies in an Adenine-Induced Model of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)."

Martin Petkovich, PhD, Cytochroma's Chief Scientific Officer, stated, "CTA018 shows characteristics in a well-accepted preclinical model of uremia which strongly indicate that it will offer clear advantages to CKD patients over currently approved therapies. We look forward to seeing these advantages confirmed in ongoing and future clinical studies with CTA018 Injection."

The newly disclosed data support the following four conclusions regarding CTA018:

(1) CTA018 is a Potent VDR Agonist and CYP24 Inhibitor

CTA018 is a dual action active vitamin D analog. Like currently approved vitamin D therapies for SHPT, CTA018 is a potent activator of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), but unlike current therapies, it is also a potent and specific inhibitor of CYP24, the vitamin D catabolic enzyme. Data presented today at the ASN demonstrate that CTA018 is at least 10 times more effective than calcitriol and paricalcitol in activating the VDR, and over 7 times more effective in inhibiting CYP24 than ketoconazole, one of the most potent CYP24 inhibitors known.

(2) CTA018 has a Short Half-Life in Human Enterocytes

Currently marketed vitamin D hormone
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