OSAKA, Japan–(BUSINESS
WIRE)–Japan’s leading diversified materials manufacturer, Nitto Denko Corporation, today announced that a basic
patent regarding the company’s epoch-making antifibrotic therapy has been
successfully registered in the USA. Nitto Denko has been developing antifibrotic drugs in
collaboration with Professor Yoshiro Niitsu at Sapporo
Medical University
since 2008, and has already been granted this patent in Japan, China
and Australia.
This patent covers various DDS (Drug Delivery Systems) that
includes antifibrotic drugs, coupled with targeting agents for the cells that
are responsible for disease. This patent should lead to the world’s first
complete cure of organ fibrosis, which is expected to give a significant boost
to the value of Nitto Denko’s patent portfolio.
Recently Nitto Denko has developed new drug and drug delivery
materials which satisfy both efficacy and safety perspectives. Nitto Denko plans practical applications firstly for a
liver cirrhosis drug, by applying an IND
(Investigational New Drug) to the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) by the
end of 2012, followed by the initiation of clinical trial studies in 2013.
Hereafter, Nitto Denko aims to expand efforts and achieve significant
progress in order to develop new drugs for inveterate diseases including
fibrosis.
Molecular targeting DDS is for delivering therapeutic agents
directly and specifically to the cells that cause diseases. In the future it is
anticipated that highly efficacious treatments with less side-effects for the
diseases would be available that is still difficult to treat now. The
antifibrotic therapy Nitto Denko is currently developing was discovered by Prof.
Yoshiro Niitsu and his group in Sapporo
Medical University,
then combined with Nitto Denko’s new DDS technologies. Nitto Denko expects that this treatment can be applied to
various organ fibrosis including liver cirrhosis and other intractable
diseases.
Future Plan
Currently, non-clinical studies are being conducted and Nitto Denko aims to
submit an IND application in December 2012,
followed by initiation of clinical study phase-1 in USA in 2013. Then, clinical trial
phase-2a is planned to be completed in 2015. From phase-2b, we may potentially
collaborate with other partners with the aim of launching a new drug in 2018 or
after.
About Nitto Denko
Founded in 1918, Nitto Denko is Japan’s leading diversified
materials manufacturer offering over 13,000 high-value-added products to the
global market. Nitto Denko’s strength lies in its flexibility to add diverse
functionalities to sheets, films and other materials, fully utilizing its core
technologies such as polymer synthesis, adhesion and coating. The Nitto Denko
group’s wide spectrum of specialities include optical films for liquid crystal
displays, automotive materials, reverse osmosis membranes for seawater
desalination, transdermal drug delivery systems, and much more. Nitto Denko is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
Total net sales in fiscal year 2010 amounted to US$7.7 billion. The company
consists of 107 subsidiaries across the globe and employs over 33,000 people.