"Abital, a combination of my children's names, Abigail and Tal, was founded to develop drugs for the central nervous system, developed by me and others, at universities and hospitals," says Abital Pharma Pipelines Ltd. founder Prof. Moussa Youdim, the discoverer of Azilect for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, which was commercialized to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA). He teamed up with Avi Goldsobel, who acquired Naiot Venture Accelerator from Ofer Holdings Group unit Ofer Hi Tech Ltd.
Since Abital Pharma had a broad pipeline of original drugs in a range of fields, Youdim considered the company as an incubator, which led to the idea of establishing an actual incubator. Naiot already had a track record of life sciences companies, including Enzymotec Ltd. (which is preparing for an IPO overseas), Remon Medical (which was sold to Boston Scientific Inc. (NYSE: BSX), MGVS - MultiGene Vascular Systems Ltd., and CogniFit Ltd.
Abital's lead product, being developed by portfolio company Varinel Pharmaceutical Ltd., is M-30 (M for Moussa, but now called Var10300), which emerged from Youdim's laboratory. The drug treats brain diseases by acting simultaneously on several mechanisms. Youdim tells "Globes" that the drug might be effective against Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease). The drug has obtained a grant from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, and is undergoing animal trials ahead of human clinical trials. Youdim says that development of the drug began in 1994.
"The drug's uniqueness is that it appears to protect nerve cells that are about to die. It may also protect nerve cells that have already begun to die (apoptosis or programmed cell death). It also seems to help stem cells in the brain to differentiate into nerve cells," says Youdim.
Varinel is developing two other drugs, which many help treat diseases linked to atrophy of brain cells. Both drugs are undergoing animal trials.
Abital is developing a diagnostic scan of gene expression for the onset of Parkinson's disease in brain cells. Youdim envisions people identified by the scan as suffering from Parkinson's will receive treatment by Aziliect or other drugs before the clinical symptoms of the disease begin, facilitating treatment. "Teva is very interested in both products," he says.
Abital is developing another product, outside Naiot. The antipsychotic drug, originally developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, is due to begin clinical trials.
Abital/Naiot portfolio companies include Mitral Heal Ltd., which is developing a minimally-invasive device for repairing the heart's mitral valve; Aramon Medical Ltd., which is developing an transdermal therapy for Parkinson's disease, which is due to begin a Phase IIa clinical trial (the product, originally developed by a German company, which will set up a joint venture with Naiot); Gerium Medical Ltd., which is developing a non-invasive optical device to measure bilirubin (a cause of jaundice) in newborns, and aims to expand the technique to other substances in the body; Thermacon Ltd., which is developing a non-invasive electric system for thermoregulation treatment of patients; and PhotoPill Ltd., which is developing an oral capsule for LED-based light therapy for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's Disease.
Youdim says that he has invested $5 million of his own money in Abital and Naiot. Most of the money is from Azilect royalties.
Teva expects $340-380 million in Azilect sales in 2013. It is conducting studies to expand the drug's indications to patients suffering from non-dementia cognitive disorders. It has already conducted studies, which found that Azilect, in contrast to other Parkinson's treatments, does not only treat the symptoms of the disease, but also delays its onset. The company hopes that the market will accept this theory, boosting the market for the drug.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 12, 2013
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