6-18-15
by Kanoko MatsuyamaShigeru Sato
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-19/stem-cell-therapy-to-restore-sight-ready-by-2020-healios-says-ib2wt815
Healios K.K., which is using Nobel Prize-winning technology to develop a treatment for an eye disease that causes vision loss, aims to begin testing it in patients in 2017 and start selling in Japan in five years.
The Tokyo-based biotechnology company has sufficient funds to cover development costs after raising about 7.3 billion yen ($59 million) from its initial public offering earlier this week, Chief Executive Officer Hardy Kagimoto said in an interview.
“I’m quite relieved because most bioventures struggle to find cash to fund development until the launch,” he said.
The Japanese company’s cell-based product is intended to treat macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly. If successful, it would compete with Novartis AG’s Lucentis, which generated $2.4 billion in sales last year. Pfizer Inc.’s Macugen and Bayer AG’s Eylea are also used to slow or stop the progression of macular degeneration.
Healios shares climbed as much as 9.4 percent to 1,750 yen in Tokyo today before closing at 1,690 yen.
The company’s therapy “is going to be a fundamental treatment for age-related macular degeneration, and Healios can potentially develop therapies for other diseases of other organs,” said Tomohiko Ikeno, a Tokyo-based biotechnology analyst at Ace Research Institute, the economic research arm of brokerage Ace Securities.
If Healios starts testing on time in 2017, it may be possible to start sales in 2020, although the process is likely to move in a very cautious manner because the treatment would be the first of its kind, he said.
Healios is also planning to take the experimental product to the U.S. and Europe, Kagimoto said, without elaborating on timing or other details.
Macular degeneration afflicts about 30 million people worldwide. The condition gradually destroys the macula, or the part of the eye needed to view objects clearly, making it difficult to recognize faces, drive and read, according to the U.S.-based National Eye Institute.
Healios uses technology invented by Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, who showed that mature cells could be reprogrammed to develop into all types of cells in the body. The company also aims to develop therapies for other organs. Healios made its stock market debut on June 16.
by Kanoko MatsuyamaShigeru Sato
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-19/stem-cell-therapy-to-restore-sight-ready-by-2020-healios-says-ib2wt815
Healios K.K., which is using Nobel Prize-winning technology to develop a treatment for an eye disease that causes vision loss, aims to begin testing it in patients in 2017 and start selling in Japan in five years.
The Tokyo-based biotechnology company has sufficient funds to cover development costs after raising about 7.3 billion yen ($59 million) from its initial public offering earlier this week, Chief Executive Officer Hardy Kagimoto said in an interview.
“I’m quite relieved because most bioventures struggle to find cash to fund development until the launch,” he said.
The Japanese company’s cell-based product is intended to treat macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly. If successful, it would compete with Novartis AG’s Lucentis, which generated $2.4 billion in sales last year. Pfizer Inc.’s Macugen and Bayer AG’s Eylea are also used to slow or stop the progression of macular degeneration.
Healios shares climbed as much as 9.4 percent to 1,750 yen in Tokyo today before closing at 1,690 yen.
The company’s therapy “is going to be a fundamental treatment for age-related macular degeneration, and Healios can potentially develop therapies for other diseases of other organs,” said Tomohiko Ikeno, a Tokyo-based biotechnology analyst at Ace Research Institute, the economic research arm of brokerage Ace Securities.
If Healios starts testing on time in 2017, it may be possible to start sales in 2020, although the process is likely to move in a very cautious manner because the treatment would be the first of its kind, he said.
Healios is also planning to take the experimental product to the U.S. and Europe, Kagimoto said, without elaborating on timing or other details.
Macular degeneration afflicts about 30 million people worldwide. The condition gradually destroys the macula, or the part of the eye needed to view objects clearly, making it difficult to recognize faces, drive and read, according to the U.S.-based National Eye Institute.
Healios uses technology invented by Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, who showed that mature cells could be reprogrammed to develop into all types of cells in the body. The company also aims to develop therapies for other organs. Healios made its stock market debut on June 16.