A $32 million infusion will allow
Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. to test what it
hopes will become a blockbuster drug in the treatment of chronic
kidney disease, a key problem for diabetes sufferers.
With the funding, the Irving-based company plans to initiate
Phase 2b clinical trials to test the effectiveness of bardoxolone
methyl in treating chronic kidney disease in 200 patients across
the country, said Warren Huff, CEO of Reata.
The drug, developed by Reata, has the potential to launch a new
class of antioxidant drugs that act as anti-inflammatories to halt
or even reverse diabetes, he said.
Nothing on the market comes close to stopping or reversing
chronic kidney disease in diabetes patients, Huff said. Only a
handful of drugs are in clinical development for diabetes and are
based on improvements to existing drugs that have not shown
dramatic results in treating kidney disease.
"This drug would have the potential to achieve peak worldwide
sales of at least $5 (billion) to $10 billion," Huff said. "The
drug would fall into what's called 'blockbuster status,' a
pharmaceutical term for a drug that would achieve $1 billion in
sales (annually)."
The latest funding was led by Novo A/S, a Danish life science
venture fund company, Dallas-based investment fund CPMG and some
new, undisclosed investors, Huff said. Encouraging results from the
drug's March 2008 Phase 2a trials, which tested the drug on about
60 patients, are allowing Reata to test the drug on a larger number
of patients and for a longer period.
Data gathered by the first quarter of 2010 could give it the
green light to launch Phase 3, testing the drug in up to 1,000
patients. If all goes well, the drug could hit the market in 2012,
Huff said.
Beyond Phase 2b, clinical development expenses would cost about
$45 million to $50 million, Huff said. The firm is in discussions
with large pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies that
would like to partner or co-develop the drug.
About 18 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes in the
United States with roughly 40% of them developing chronic kidney
disease.
"To have a drug that could actually reverse chronic
disease, that is huge," said Hubert Zajicek, director of the North
Texas Enterprise Center for Medical Technology, a nonprofit that
assists entrepreneurs with medical technology ventures.