Executive Summary
Alizyme is a speciality biopharmaceutical development company, based in Cambridge, targeting the treatment and management of gastrointestinal disorders, obesity and diabetes. It has a portfolio of products which, in addition to cetilistat (previously ATL-962), includes COLAL-PRED(R) (Phase III for the treatment of acute ulcerative colitis in Europe), and ATL-104 (currently in a Phase IIa trial for mucositis). The share price has experienced significant recent declines following the announcement of negative newsflow in relation to its development pipeline: 1) in April 2008, the Company suspended development of its irritable bowel syndrome drug, Renzapride after it failed phase III trials,[1] and 2) in July 2008, the results of late-stage clinical trials showed its treatment for inflamed bowels was not as effective as the standard therapy.[2]
Alizyme is a virtual biotech company. As it is in a development phase, the business had negligible revenues in the year ended December 2007 and an EBITDA loss of £32.1m.
Company History
- Established 1995
- Listed on LSE in 2000
- In April 2008, the Company suspended development of its irritable bowel syndrome drug, Renzapride after it failed phase III trials
- In July 2008, Colal-Pred licensed to Netherlands-based Norgine BV in a deal that could earn it upfront and milestone payments of up to €42.7m plus sales royalties.
- In July 2008, Colal-Pred failed to meet efficacy targets in a Phase III study, sending the firm's shares down over 45% to 8.25 pence on the day of the news, July 24.
Current Events
Business Model
Alizyme is a virtual biotech company, with only 17 staff. It has no science platform researching new products, instead it has for the most part looked to in-license promising early products and then take them through the development process.
Products/Services
The key component of Alizyme's clinical development portfolio are:
- Cetilistat - Cetilistat was developed from one of four active chemical series arising from our own discovery programme into inhibitors of GI lipases. The compound was identified and commenced pre-clinical development in 1999. This drug is ready to commence phase III studies.[3]
- COLAL-PRED® - COLAL-PRED® is a proprietary product developed bycombining COLAL®, a drug delivery technology, with prednisolone, a generic steroid. COLAL® was originally accessed and then licensed through a series of agreements with BTG International Ltd (now BTG plc), commencing in 1996. In March 2005, Alizyme acquired the patents that relate to the COLAL® technology…
