Professor Andrew Coats MBA, DSc, DM, co-founded Actimed Therapeutics in 2017, having previously founded Myotec (later renamed PsiOxus Therapeutics). Andrew has over 30 years of experience as an academic manager, having been both Dean of Medicine and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney and head of Clinical Cardiology at Imperial College and the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. Andrew also served as CEO of the Norwich Research Park in the UK. Andrew is an experienced board director and chairman with an MBA from London Business School. He has over 20 years of experience of company boards in roles including audit, remuneration, nominations and governance committees in biotechnology, publishing health care and education, including the George Institute of International Health, the Woolcock Institute, Lone Star Heart, Myotec, PsiOxus, Radcliffe Group, ESN Cleer and Faraday (Australia). Andrew has been on the board of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC since 2012 and will be its President from 2020 to 2022. He has been a member of over 20 international clinical trial steering committees in the fields of heart failure and cachexia and has over 700 career research papers, 95,000 citations and an h-Index of 130.
Professor Stefan Anker MD, PhD, co-founded Actimed Therapeutics in 2017, having previously founded Myotec (later renamed PsiOxus Therapeutics). Stefan has 30 years academic research experience in heart failure, cachexia and clinical trials with positions at Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College in London as well as University Göttingen and Charité Berlin. Stefan has been a tenured University-Professor in Germany since 2007, leading a highly active research group, and he is founding Editor-in-Chief of two successful scientific journals (including the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle). Stefan was Vice President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) from 2016 to 2018, and served on the ESC board from 2012 to 2018. He has served on the board of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC since 2006; and was HFA President from 2012 to 2014.
Yann Colardelle is a professional in communications and medical education who has been involved in research and education in cachexia for more than 15 years. In 1998 he founded Medical Education Global Solutions, a leading independent medical education company with a focus on global and multidisciplinary projects.
Yann holds a degree from the University of Provence and an eMBA at Paris Dauphine. As a founder, he envisions Actimed therapeutics as the organisation that will change the paradigm of cachexia management and improve the lives of patients and their families and carers.
London, UK – 4 May 2022. Actimed Therapeutics Ltd, a clinical stage company focused on bringing innovation to the treatment of muscle wasting disorders, today announced the grant of a new UK Patent (GB 2593902 B) covering new salts of S-pindolol for use in the treatment or prevention of cachexia with an expiry date in 2040.
An international patent application has also been filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and was published in October 2021, which seeks to extend patent protection for new S-pindolol salts to all relevant major international markets out to 2041.
S-pindolol benzoate (ACM-001.1) is the leading development candidate of Actimed and is protected by the patent for use in the treatment of cachexia. Actimed plans on initiating Phase 2b/3 clinical studies of S-pindolol benzoate in 2023.
Robin Bhattacherjee, CEO of Actimed commented “We are thrilled to confirm the grant of this new patent which includes protection of our new benzoate salt form of S-pindolol for use in the treatment of cachexia. Strengthening our intellectual property portfolio is fundamental to the commercial value of S-pindolol and supports our plans to develop the first globally approved treatment for cancer cachexia, which affects 50 to 80% of cancer patients worldwide. The granted patent provides enhanced and extended protection of S-pindolol benzoate for use in cachexia until 2040 adding significant value to our lead asset and to the Company as a whole.”
Cachexia is a wasting syndrome that can be difficult to reverse and remains a significant hurdle in the treatment of cancer. It causes sudden loss of weight, appetite and muscle and accounts for up to 20% of all cancer deaths1. In nonclinical models, S-pindolol is an anabolic/catabolic transforming agent2 with a multifunctional effect on a trio of pharmacological targets which could make it an important candidate for development in cancer cachexia.
The potential clinical utility of S-pindolol benzoate as a therapeutic for the treatment of cancer cachexia is supported by data from the ACT-ONE3 Phase II clinical study of S-pindolol (ACM-001) which was a proof of concept exploratory, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 87 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or colorectal cancer (CRC). The trial demonstrated that S-pindolol was well-tolerated and that patients receiving the highest dose showed a median weight gain of 2.74kg compared to a median 1.09kg weight loss in patients receiving placebo over a 4-month period.
The newly granted patent follows the commencement in December 2021 of a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) clinical study of S-pindolol benzoate (ACM001.1) in healthy subjects. Data from this study are expected in the first half of 2022 and will be used to further inform the Phase 2b/3 programme.
1Argilés JM, Busquets S, Stemmler B, Lopez-Soriano FJ. Cancer cachexia: understanding the molecular basis. Nat Rev Cancer. 2014;14:754–62.
2Pötsch MS, et al. The anabolic catabolic transforming agent (ACTA) espindolol increases muscle mass and decreases fat mass in old rats. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2014 Jun;5(2):149-58
3Coats AJS, et al. Espindolol for the treatment and prevention of cachexia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, international multicentre phase II study (the ACT-ONE trial). J. Cachexia Sarcopenia and Muscle 2016 Jun; 7(3):355-365.
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