Traditional drug development is high-risk; only about one out of 20 drugs that enter clinical studies end up getting approved. By working with known drugs, we mitigate that risk
In a recent interview with Thomas Warner of Proactive, Dr Dan Gooding, the executive director and Founder of Nuformix PLC (LSE:NFX), provided an in-depth look into the company's innovative approach to drug development.
Nuformix is making significant strides in the pharmaceutical industry with its key assets, NXP001 and NXP002, by repurposing known drugs to improve their performance.
This expanded Q&A-style article offers a comprehensive understanding of the company's business model, recent developments, and future prospects.
Thomas Warner (TW): It's been a while since we had an update from you. Could you tell us about the progress of your NXP001 candidate?
Dr Dan Gooding (DG): Absolutely. NXP001 is a prime example of our business model, which involves redeveloping known drugs. We utilise various technologies to enhance their performance, secure patents, and then develop these improved versions up to a point where we can out-license them.
NXP001 was our first molecule developed for the clinic. Its improved performance was attractive to OxyLeo, our licensing partner. The most recent update is that OxyLeo has decided to purchase the patents related to NXP001.
This provides us with additional near-term payments and frees us from the responsibility of making international IP maintenance payments. The net impact on Nuformix from a cash perspective is quite significant.
TW: Does this mean you're no longer expecting to receive any more income from NXP001?
DG: No, that's not the case. The additional income we've received is on top of retained milestones and royalties. We still retain a future value in terms of where that asset goes. These are new payments, and there remain development milestones and royalties, capped at something like £2 million per annum.
TW: You mentioned NXP002 as your next focus. Could you elaborate on that?
DG: NXP002 is particularly important to me. It targets a disease area known as lung fibrosis or Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). This is a severe and rare disease with a life expectancy of three to five years upon diagnosis.
Current therapies are not curative and have debilitating side effects. We believe NXP002 can offer a more effective treatment, especially as instances of fibrosis have come to light more during Covid times where severe infections have caused fibrotic areas in the lung.
TW: Could you explain the severity of lung fibrosis a bit more?
DG: Certainly. Lung tissue is highly functional; it gets oxygen into your blood and brain. When fibrosis occurs, there's been some injury to the lung that kicks off a scarring process that doesn't stop. This results in a progressive loss of lung function, making it a deadly disease without effective treatment currently.
TW: Your business model involves repurposing existing drugs. What was the original treatment for the substance used in NXP002?
DG: The drug we're developing is a modified version of a drug called Tranilast, originally approved in Japan in the late '80s for asthma and allergy treatment. It later gained approval for treating skin scarring. We saw the potential for its application in lung fibrosis and are generating data to support this.
TW: How does repurposing existing drugs mitigate risks in drug development?
DG: Traditional drug development is high-risk; only about one out of 20 drugs that enter clinical studies end up getting approved. By working with known drugs, we mitigate that risk. We can take a view on safety, which is a significant reason why many drugs fail. There's often public domain information that supports redeveloping a known drug for a different indication, making it a good idea.