PR Pharmaceuticals Inc. Secures Patent for 2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME) to Treat Diabetes

PR Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PRP) has successfully secured a U.S. patent for 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME), a compound that has demonstrated significant potential in treating diabetes and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The patent, assigned to the University of Pittsburgh, has been exclusively licensed to PRP, which is developing the drug, known as PulmoLar, containing 2ME as an active ingredient. According to Edwin K. Jackson PhD, professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and coinventor of the patent, treatment with 2ME has shown promising results in reducing glycated hemoglobin levels, improving glucose tolerance, and reducing kidney damage in animal models of the metabolic syndrome.

Key Takeaways:

• PR Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PRP) has secured a U.S. patent (No. 6,998,395) for 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME) to treat diabetes, assigned to the University of Pittsburgh.
• The patent has been exclusively licensed to PRP, which is developing PulmoLar, a drug containing 2ME as an active ingredient, for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
• Treatment with 2ME has demonstrated significant attenuation of pathology associated with the metabolic syndrome in animal models, including reduced glycated hemoglobin levels, improved glucose tolerance, and reduced kidney damage.
• The data generated to support this patent suggest 2ME has potential applications beyond Pulmonary Hypertension.
• The active ingredient in PulmoLar is 2ME, an endogenous non-estrogenic metabolite of estradiol with multiple mechanisms of action relevant to PAH.
• PRP plans to conduct Phase I studies with PulmoLar in 2006.

Statistics:

• Patent serial number: 10/061,325
• Patent issuance date: 2006
• Compound: 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME)
• Target diseases: Diabetes, Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)
• Clinical development phase: Phase I
• Timeframe: 2006

Sources:

• World Disease Weekly, 2006, via NewsRx.com