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Governor Beshear Announces Bexion and Vivorte to Create High-Tech Jobs
in Northern Kentucky and Louisville: Bexion Pharmaceuticals and Vivorte to create 14 high-tech jobs earning over $70,000
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 10, 2010) – Gov. Steve Beshear today announced two job-creation projects, Bexion Pharmaceuticals LLC, in Covington, and Vivorte LLC, in Louisville. Combined, the projects will create 14 new high-tech and technical support jobs paying an average annual salary of over $70,000, exclusive of benefits.
Bexion Pharmaceuticals is developing a unique cancer drug that can be used to treat a wide range of cancers by targeting tumors. Vivorte is developing a bone replacement material to help bones heal better and an implant that strengthens hips to help prevent hip fractures.
“The technologies under development by Bexion and Vivorte are designed to fight two significant medical problems – cancer and bone injuries,” said Gov. Beshear. “By helping these pioneering companies to commercialize their products, we are not only adding 14 high-paying jobs for Kentuckians, we are also helping to develop products that can benefit people around the world.”
A client of the Northern Kentucky Innovation and Commercialization Center, Bexion Pharmaceuticals LLC, was approved by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) for up to $155,000 to assist in purchasing lab equipment. Bexion has a first-in-class drug with a demonstrated ability to target tumors that result from a broad range of human cancers.
The product, for which Bexion holds exclusive licenses, is a technology based on research performed at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The company initially plans to focus on the treatment of glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor, and pancreatic cancers. In September 2010, Bexion won a prestigious partnership with the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory of the National Cancer Institute to support the ongoing development of this technology.
“Bexion is grateful to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the continued support of our efforts,” said Dr. Ray Takigiku, CEO of Bexion. “These funds will better equip us to continue moving our products toward authorization in 2011 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use our experimental drug in clinical trials.”
Vivorte LLC, a client of the Louisville Innovation and Commercialization Center, was approved by KEDFA for up to $120,000 to assist in purchasing laboratory equipment to support the company’s efforts, as well as for intellectual property protection and regulatory expenses.
The company is developing two products with the potential to improve the lives of patients who suffer bone injuries or who have weakened bones due to osteoporosis. The first product is a bone replacement material that is both strong and absorbs naturally into the body as new bone grows in its place. It is designed to be used by surgeons to better repair broken bones and to more securely install orthopedic devices. The second product is a small implant to strengthen the hips of people with osteoporosis with the goal of reducing the occurrence of hip fractures. Patents are pending for both technologies.
“The Cabinet for Economic Development has been very supportive of our company and KEDFA’s generous funding demonstrates the Commonwealth’s commitment to business growth. This is one of the reasons we are proud to be a Kentucky company,” said Ruth Voor, CEO of Vivorte. “The money will enable us to drive the intellectual property and regulatory projects necessary as we prepare our products for commercialization.”
The two economic development projects were funded by the Cabinet for Economic Development’s High-Tech Investment Pool. The pool is used to support technology-based and research-intensive companies and projects in the Commonwealth. Kentucky’s statewide network of six Innovation and Commercialization Centers (ICCs), which includes the Northern Kentucky e-Zone and Louisville ICC, and seven Innovation Centers (ICs), provides locally accessible, business-building consulting and related services to the state’s high-tech entrepreneurs and inventors.
More information about Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at www.ThinkKentucky.com.
For Immediate Release
Bexion Pharmaceuticals
Advances First-in-Class Cancer Therapy Into Preclinical Development
COVINGTON, Ky. Sept. 20, 2010 – Bexion Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has been selected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for a research collaboration to study Bexion’s first-in-class cancer nanotherapy treatment for solid tumors. The research will be conducted by the NCI’s Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory(NCL), part of a major program, the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, to advance the medical applications of nanotechnology. The initial NCL efforts will focus on the characterization of Bexion’s product for its absorption, distribution and toxicity properties in both in vitro and in vivo studies.
The intent of these studies is to produce data for Bexion to support its filings with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The cost of these studies is paid for by the NCL. The agreement is part of NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative, which seeks to accelerate the delivery of new products to cancer patients. “We are very excited by this collaboration with NCL, and hope that we will be able to move more quickly into the clinic and commercialization with their help”, said Dr. Ray Takigiku, CEO and President at Bexion Pharmaceuticals. “The primary purpose of this effort is to accomplish the work necessary for an IND (Investigational New Drug application).”
Bexion’s technology is Saposin C- dioleoylphosphatidylserine (dubbed “SapC-DOPS”) and is a first-in-class nanovesicle therapeutic for the treatment of glioblastomas (GBM), pancreatic cancers, and other solid tumors. SapC-DOPS nanovesicles have preferential affinity for phosphatidylserine enriched membrane patches which appear to be common in many types of tumor cells and tumor eovasculature. Bexion’s initial studies of SapC-DOPS have shown that the product induces apoptosis in cancer cell lines and also demonstrated in vivo efficacy in multiple tumor models.
The NCL has developed a series of protocols that produce a detailed characterization profile for many different kinds of anoparticles ith potential medical applications. These characterization profiles ensure that biomedical researchers have precise information about the particles, such as size, morphology, purity, chemical composition and stability, biodistribution, blood contact properties, and other physicochemical and biological properties. These protocols include toxicology tests that have been adopted as standards by ASTM International. Bexion’s product will be tested through the NCL’s assay cascades for generation of data that may be used in support of an FDA IND submission for SapC-DOPS.
632 Russell St ¨ Covington, KY 41011 USA ¨ Tel: 513-437-3000 ¨ Fax: 859-581-3900
About Bexion Pharmaceuticals:
Bexion Pharmaceuticals, based in Covington, Kentucky is focused on the development and commercialization of innovative cures for cancer. The first product is a platform technology licensed from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. It is a first-inclass biologic with data-driven potential for treatment of a broad range of human cancers. The active biologic is recombinantly expressed human Saposin C (SapC) bound to the anionic phospholipid, dioleoylphosphatidylserine (DOPS) - SapC-DOPS. Specifically with this product, the company is interested in first entering the clinic with a glioma cancer indication, possibly simultaneously with a pancreatic cancer indication.
About the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory:
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) established the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory in 2005—in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—to perform preclinical efficacy and toxicity testing of nanoparticles. NCL serves as a national resource and knowledge base for all cancer researchers to facilitate the regulatory review of nanotechnologies intended for cancer therapies and diagnostics. NCL, part of NCI’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, works to accelerate the transition of basic nanoscale particles and devices into clinical applications.
632 Russell St ¨ Covington, KY 41011 USA ¨ Tel: 513-437-3000 ¨ Fax: 859-581-3900
Fifth Third Business Beat: FYI - Bexion Pharmaceuticials
April 3, 2009 - The CEO of a Kentucky start-up firm, Bexion Pharmaceuticials, tells us how grants and state funding help his company find cancer treatments. |