Sangamo BioSciences Plans to Have 4 Ongoing Clinical Trials by the 2nd Half of 2007
RICHMOND, Calif-- Drug developer Sangamo BioSciences Inc. said Thursday it expects to have two mid-stage clinical trials and two early-stage clinical trials under way by the second half of 2007.
Sangamo shares rose 37 cents, or 5 percent, to $7.71 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. Shares have traded between $3.90 and $8.28 over the past 52 weeks.
One of the mid-stage trials, the company's first, has already started, testing the company's SB-509 drug candidate for the treatment of mild to moderate diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage caused by diabetes.
The second mid-stage trial seeks to study SB-509 to treat patients with "blocked nerve" conduction. Data from an early-stage clinical trial for this use will be presented in 2007 at a medical conference.
Sangamo plans to start an early-stage clinical trial on an HIV treatment in the second half of 2007 on a compound shown to create immune cells that are resistant to HIV. The company is looking to file paperwork with the Food and Drug Administration to begin the trial by June.
The company also disclosed plans to begin an early-stage clinical trial for the treatment of a type of brain cancer by late in the second half of 2007.
In its outlook, Sangamo plans to have about $53 million in cash by the end of 2006, and about $35 million by the end of 2007.
What is it?
Sangamo's technology is based upon the engineering of a naturally occurring class of DNA transcription factors called zinc finger DNA-binding proteins, or ZFPs. The DNA recognition and binding function of ZFPs can be used to target a variety of functional domains to a gene-specific location. The two-component structure of our engineered ZFP TFs is modeled on the structure of naturally occurring transcription factors. They are currently targeting known disease DNAs for ZFP regulation and modifying their function.
SB-509 is being tested in diabetic neuropathy by targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor gene. They are introducing the zfp-transcription factor into the patients which stimulates the gene to turn on. In rat and rabbit models of diabetic neuropathy, VEGF165-A gene transfer conferred a complete reversal of the deficits in nerve conduction velocities (NCVs- a common test to determine nerve damage) characteristic of diabetes. Preliminary results from clinical studies have indicated improvements in the signs and symptoms of sensory neuropathy in diabetic patients after intramuscular injection of a plasmid DNA encoding VEGF165-A
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