Hemaquest - Latest News

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Offline Sharmin

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Hemaquest - Latest News
« on: November 22, 2008, 11:02:47 PM »
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1597003/hemaquest_pharmaceuticals_receives_orphan_drug_designations_for_therapeutic_to_treat/index.html

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HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals Receives Orphan Drug Designations for Therapeutic to Treat Hemoglobin Disorders

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 November 2008, 09:00 CST

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the company orphan drug designations for sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia for HQK-1001, which is an orally administered therapeutic under clinical development for these two indications.

HemaQuest President and CEO Ronald Berenson, MD, said, "Orphan drug designations confirm the urgent medical need to develop new therapies to treat these two serious and life-threatening hemoglobin disorders. These designations by the FDA also provide us with strong incentives for our novel proprietary drug candidate, HQK-1001, which initially is being developed to treat both sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia."

Orphan drug status provides certain tax benefits and confers market exclusivity for a minimum of seven years after drug approval by the FDA to encourage companies to develop medicines that affect less than 200,000 people in the United States. Both hemoglobin disorders, sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia, fall into this category with a combined total of less than 80,000 patients suffering from these inherited blood diseases in the U.S.


Worldwide, sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia afflict millions of people. Few therapeutic alternatives exist for these serious and life-threatening diseases, which are associated with significant morbidity and reduced patient survival, creating a strong and pressing need for new treatments.

HemaQuest recently completed Phase 1 clinical trials of HQK-1001 in healthy subjects and plans to begin clinical studies of this compound in both sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia in the near future. The compound's therapeutic potential was discovered by Susan Perrine, MD, the company's chief scientific officer and vice president of clinical affairs, and her colleagues at Boston University.

ABOUT HEMAQUEST PHARMACEUTICALS

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals (www.HemaQuest.com), which was established in late 2007, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecule therapeutics based on its short chain fatty acid derivative (SCFAD) technologies to treat hemoglobin diseases. HemaQuest is also developing other SCFADs that could prove useful in treating other hematological disorders, such as other kinds of anemia and neutropenia. The company's investors include De Novo Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif., life sciences venture capital partnership; Forward Ventures, a life sciences venture capital firm based in San Diego; and Lilly Ventures of Indianapolis, Ind., the venture capital arm of Eli Lilly and Company.

 CONTACT: Peter Lowy Business Communication Strategies T: 617-734-9980 Email Contact
SOURCE: HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals
Sharmin

Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2008, 01:27:34 AM »
Thanks for the news Sharmin. This is very encouraging.
Regards.

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Offline Sharmin

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Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2008, 06:44:00 AM »
 :pray
Sharmin

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Offline Dori

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Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2009, 07:50:13 AM »
HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals Receives European Orphan Medicinal Product Designations For Therapeutic To Treat Hemoglobin Disorders
29 Mar 2009   

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals announced that it has received two orphan medicinal product designations from the European Commission for its product HQK-1001 for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. The new designations are in addition to orphan drug designations for both diseases granted in the United States last year.

HemaQuest President and CEO Ronald Berenson, MD, said, "Receiving orphan medicinal product designations for these hemoglobin disorders is critical to our overall strategy for developing HQK-1001. In contrast to the United States, where beta thalassemia is relatively rare, there are several thousand patients in Europe who suffer from beta thalassemia, a serious and life-threatening disease for which there are currently no approved drugs to treat the underlying illness.

"For sickle cell anemia, there is a strong need for new drugs to treat this disorder, which causes significant morbidity and mortality. The incentives provided by orphan medicinal designation in Europe will enable HemaQuest to aggressively pursue development of HQK-1001 in Europe as well as the United States."

In the European Union (EU), products targeted to treat life-threatening or very serious conditions that affect fewer than five in 10,000 people are eligible for orphan medicinal product designation. Such status provides significant advantages and assistance in obtaining marketing authorization in the EU, including 10-year market exclusivity in the EU once the product is approved, direct assistance from the EMEA in preparing the product development plan, access to EMEA centralized licensing procedures, and reduced fees.

Worldwide, sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia afflict millions of people. Few therapeutic alternatives exist for these serious and life-threatening diseases, and they are associated with significant morbidity and reduced patient survival, creating a strong and pressing need for new treatments.

HemaQuest recently completed Phase 1 clinical trials of HQK-1001, an orally administered therapeutic, in healthy subjects and plans to begin clinical studies of this compound in both sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia in the near future. The compound's therapeutic potential was discovered by Susan Perrine, MD, the company's chief scientific officer and vice president of clinical affairs, and her colleagues at Boston University.

About Hemaquest Pharmaceuticals

HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals , which was established in late 2007, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecule therapeutics based on its short chain fatty acid derivative (SCFAD) technologies to treat hemoglobin diseases. HemaQuest is also developing other SCFADs that could prove useful in treating other hematological disorders, such as other kinds of anemia and neutropenia. The company's investors include De Novo Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif., life sciences venture capital partnership; Forward Ventures, a life sciences venture capital firm based in San Diego; and Lilly Ventures of Indianapolis, Ind., the venture capital arm of Eli Lilly and Company.

Source
Hemaquest Pharmaceuticals
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Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/143966.php

Main News Category: Blood / Hematology


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Offline Sharmin

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Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2009, 03:32:24 PM »
Thanks Dore,

I am really excited about Hemaquest.   I hope that that the treatment makes a significant improvement for thal patients.  Potentially, this could happen in another year or so!!  :pray

Sharmin
Sharmin

Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2009, 03:55:01 PM »
This is exciting that trials are going on both sides of Atlantic.
Regards.

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Kathy11

Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2009, 10:36:29 PM »
Dore. :flowers :flowers
Thank-you for sharing your time to research these valuable readings and learning informations.

Reading this piece of informations re- established the hope that eventually blood disorders will be eradicated with good treatment and  a cure.

sound fantastice :biggrin
Kathy

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Offline nice friend

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Re: Hemaquest - Latest News
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2009, 03:58:02 PM »
Hi Dore
Thanx for Sharing a Nice news article , Nice Sharing  :ty

Umair
Sometimes , God breaks our spirit to save our soul.
Sometimes , He breaks our heart to make us whole.
Sometimes , He sends us pain so we can be stronger.
Sometimes , He sends us failure so we can be humble.
Sometimes , He sends us illness so we can take better care of our selves.
Sometimes , He takes everything away from us so we can learn the value of everything we have.

===========
Umair

 

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