BioWorld International Correspondent
PARIS - The Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) and Ghent University have created a joint subsidiary called Peakadilly NV to develop and market a new generation of molecular diagnostics known as protein biomarkers.
Based in Ghent, Belgium, Peakadilly has a proteomics technology platform developed by VIB, which is the company's principal shareholder, having put up most of its capital of €2 million. Peakadilly is housed in the VIB bioincubator in the Technology Park of Ghent University in Zwijnaarde and four VIB employees have transferred to the new company.
Peakadilly's CEO, Koen Kas, who played a key role in the development of the technology, told BioWorld International that they had found a "chemical trick" for pinpointing the first identifier of a protein, which permitted the large-scale and systematic analysis of large numbers of proteins. In addition, VIB had succeeded in slashing the time required for validating a newly discovered biomarker by using a synthetic version.
The technology has allowed Peakadilly to identify and characterize proteins related to particular diseases or to the activity of potential drug candidates. Armed with that knowledge, the company is developing biomarkers to speed up the development of diagnostics and therapeutics for the early detection and treatment of life-threatening diseases such as cancer.
Kas said one of the advantages of biomarkers is that they "measure cellular activity downstream from protease activity." By bridging the preclinical and clinical phases of the development process, biomarkers can help determine at an earlier stage whether a drug candidate will prove effective, thereby reducing development costs and lead times. In addition, they make it possible to determine in advance whether a particular therapy will work for a patient and to target therapies specifically at those patients who will benefit.
Kas explained that the technology had been validated in three research collaborations with pharmaceutical companies covering different stages of the drug discovery and development process, from the pre-discovery phase through mouse models to clinical evaluation in humans. Peakadilly is focusing its in-house activities on oncology, and Kas said the first product from that program would be a stand-alone biomarker for use as a diagnostic tool to help biopharmaceutical companies measure the potential anti-cancer activity of new chemical entities.
He declined to name Peakadilly's three existing partners, but said it was negotiating further deals with two pharmaceutical companies and one biotechnology company. As well as sharing its technology through collaborations, Kas said Peakadilly would grant exclusive licenses to third parties for other disease areas, such as inflammation, central nervous system disorders and cardiovascular disease. He added that it had no potential value in some areas, such as metabolic diseases.
Peakadilly is negotiating an extension and enlargement of an existing collaboration, and if finalized it would give Peakadilly funding to last into 2006. Kas said signing two deals, entailing up-front payments as well as research and development funding and milestones, would give the company financial autonomy for the foreseeable future.
Failing that, it might approach venture capital funds in early 2005. But Kas did not expect that would be necessary, as the industry has demonstrated "surprising enthusiasm" for Peakadilly's technology.