Santaris Pharma Explained

Santaris Pharma A/S
Foundation:2003
Fate:Acquired by Roche Pharmaceuticals
Location:Copenhagen, Denmark
Products:RNA-targeted medicines, Locked nucleic acid (LNA) based drugs

Santaris Pharma A/S was a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1] The company also had a branch in San Diego, California that opened in 2009.[2] Created by a merger between Cureon and Pantheco, Santaris developed RNA-targeted medicines using a Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Drug Platform and Drug Development Engine.[3]

Santaris had gained intellectual property rights to the therapeutic applications of locked nucleic acid (LNA) technology. These rights included ownership of several patents, mostly with the chemistry and manufacturing of therapeutic drugs. With its LNA technology, Santaris developed drugs for the treatment of cancers and tumours using microRNA and mRNA. Its research focused on infectious diseases and metabolic disorders. The company also worked on collaborations with other pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs that could treat cancers and rare genetic disorders, among other things.

In August 2014, Santaris was acquired by Roche for $450 million. As a result, the Copenhagen site was renamed the Roche Innovation Center Copenhagen (RICC).[4] RICC houses Roche's RNA Molecule Research, which is part of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development.[5] In 2023, it was closed due to a decision to move research to Basel, Switzerland where Roche is headquartered.[6] The former employees of the RICC were offered new jobs at the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.[7]

Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) drug platform

Santaris developed drugs based on Locked nucleic acid (LNA) to facilitate the identification and design of potential drug candidates. LNA oligonucleotides were engineered by Santaris as antisense therapeutic agents, designed to complement specific mRNA and microRNA sequences. This interaction leads to the formation of double-stranded RNA, preventing translation. Notably, LNA oligonucleotides are shorter than other antisense drugs, granting them greater target affinity and potency compared to regular RNA oligonucleotides.

One of the distinctive qualities of LNA drugs is their resistance to endonuclease activity, which contributes to their durability. Moreover, LNA drugs possess other advantageous attributes in comparison to other therapeutic agents: they can be administered without the need for complex drug delivery methods, their production is scalable and cost-effective, they are well-tolerated. These factors collectively define LNA-based drugs as innovative therapeutic agents.[8]

Drug candidates

Cancer drug candidates

In 2009, Santaris announced that two LNA based drugs EZN-3042, and EZN-2968 would be entering clinical trials.[9] EZN-2968 is an inhibitor of a transcription factor, specificially HIF-1 alpha, which is involved in cells ability to undergo angiogenesis and other processes needed for cell survival. EZN-3042 is also an inhibitor, which acts against Survivin. Santaris partnered with Enzon Pharmaceuticals,[10] for the development of both drug candidates.

Hyperlipidemia

SPC-4955 was a drug intended for the treatment of high cholesterol. SPC-4955 inhibits the protein that is necessary for the formation of plasma LDL cholesterol particles. This has the potential to be used as a treatment for patients with hyperlipidemia.[11] SPC-5001 which targets PCSK9 program also has the potential to treat patients with hyperlipidemia. It inhibits the protein that controls the number of receptors responsible for removing LDL cholesterol particles from the blood.

As of 2022, clinical trials on SPC-4955 have been discontinued by Roche.[12]

Hepatitis C

Santaris developed a microRNA targeting drug for hepatitis C (HCV), miravirsen (SPC3649),[13] which entered Phase II clinical trials in 2010.[14] The drug targets miR-122, a host factor necessary for viral replication of the hepatitis C virus in host liver cells; because miravirsen targets a host factor rather than the virus itself, there are no indications of the virus developing resistance.[15] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a multiple dosing study, by injection, to treatment-naive patients for phase II testing.

Rare genetic disorders

Santaris had a collaboration with Shire to discover and develop new RNA-based medicines to treat rare genetic disorders.[16]

Collaborations

Santaris partnered with several pharmaceutical companies that wanted to develop LNA oligonucleotides for mRNA and microRNA targets. Pfizer and Santaris entered a collaboration pact in 2009, which was expanded in 2011.[17] It also had a partnership with Enzon for cancer drug targets,Shire for lead candidates of five rare, undisclosed genetic disorders, miRagen to develop treatments targeting microRNAs associated with cardiovascular disease,[18] and GlaxoSmithKline for RNA-targeted medication.[19]

Timeline

Awards

Litigation

In 2010, Exiqon completed its litigation against Santaris for the supply of LNA. The court determined that both companies may supply the product for research and development of pharmaceutical products. Exiqon was made to pay partial costs to Santaris of DKK 2 million within two weeks.[33]

Isis Pharmaceuticals filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Santaris Pharma A/S in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in September 2011. Isis's infringement suit against Santaris is based upon Santaris's activities providing antisense drugs and antisense drug discovery services to several pharmaceutical companies.[34]

Notes and References

  1. Santaris Pharma - 2008 Fierce 15 . Fierce Biotech . June 2008 .
  2. MicroRNA Drug Developer Santaris Establishes Toehold in San Diego With Isis Veteran . Xconomy . September 16, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210512235143/http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2009/09/16/microrna-drug-developer-santaris-establishes-toehold-in-san-diego-with-isis-veteran/ . 2021-05-12.
  3. Developing LNA technology for new-generation cancer drugs . SP2 Magazine . March 2006 .
  4. Web site: 2014-08-04 . Forbion Announces Sale of Portfolio Company, Santaris Pharma, to Roche for up to $450m . 2022-03-05 . www.businesswire.com . en.
  5. Web site: Roche Pharma R&D - Copenhagen, Denmark . 2024-05-12 . www.roche-dot-com-staging.cwp.roche.com . en.
  6. Web site: 2022-10-26 . Roche to close Danish research center with 60 workers . 2024-05-31 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230215203005/https://medwatch.com/News/Pharma___Biotech/article14524419.ece . 2023-02-15 . medwatch.com . en.
  7. Web site: 2022-12-19 . Roche opens Novo Nordisk career path for laid-off employees . 2024-05-31 . medwatch.com . en.
  8. Weiss B., Davidkova G., Zhou L-W. . 1999 . Antisense RNA gene therapy for studying and modulating biological processes . Cell. Mol. Life Sci. . 55 . 3 . 334–358 . 10.1007/s000180050296 . 10228554 . 9448271 . 11146801 .
  9. Web site: Santaris Pharma A/S: Another LNA-based RNA Inhibitor Enters Clinical Trials EZN3042 . 2024-05-12 . BioSpace . en-US.
  10. Web site: July 27, 2006 . Enzon Pharmaceuticals and Santaris Pharma Enter into Global Collaboration to Develop Novel Cancer Therapeutics; Alliance Strengthens Both Companies' Oncology Pipelines . 2024-05-12 . . PDF.
  11. Web site: Santaris advances a second drug from its cardiometabolic programme, SPC4955, into phase I trials to treat high cholesterol . 2024-05-12 . test.pharmabiz.com.
  12. Bejar . Nada . Tat . Trinh T. . Kiss . Daniel L. . May 2022 . RNA Therapeutics: the Next Generation of Drugs for Cardiovascular Diseases . Current Atherosclerosis Reports . en . 24 . 5 . 307–321 . 10.1007/s11883-022-01007-9 . 35364795 . 8975710 . 1523-3804.
  13. Chakraborty . Chiranjib . Sharma . Ashish Ranjan . Sharma . Garima . Doss . C. George Priya . Lee . Sang-Soo . 2017-09-15 . Therapeutic miRNA and siRNA: Moving from Bench to Clinic as Next Generation Medicine . Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids . 8 . 132–143 . 10.1016/j.omtn.2017.06.005 . 28918016 . 2162-2531. 5496203 .
  14. Janssen . Harry L.A. . Reesink . Hendrik W. . Lawitz . Eric J. . Zeuzem . Stefan . Rodriguez-Torres . Maribel . Patel . Keyur . van der Meer . Adriaan J. . Patick . Amy K. . Chen . Alice . Zhou . Yi . Persson . Robert . King . Barney D. . Kauppinen . Sakari . Levin . Arthur A. . Hodges . Michael R. . 2013-05-02 . Treatment of HCV Infection by Targeting MicroRNA . New England Journal of Medicine . en . 368 . 18 . 1685–1694 . 10.1056/NEJMoa1209026 . 23534542 . 0028-4793.
  15. Web site: 2010-09-22 . Santaris Pharma A/S advances miravirsen, the first microRNA-targeted drug to enter clinical trials, into Phase 2 to treat patients infected with Hepatitis C virus . 2024-05-12 . Globa Life Science Ventures .
  16. Web site: Otmani . Malin . 2013-09-04 . Shire extends partnership with Santaris Pharma . 2024-05-12 . Nordic Life Science – the leading Nordic life science news service . en-US.
  17. News: Jarzemsky . Matt . 2011-01-04 . Pfizer, Santaris Expand Collaboration Pact . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2022-03-05 . 0099-9660.
  18. Santaris Pharma A/S and miRagen Therapeutics, Inc. Form Strategic Alliance to Develop microRNA-Targeted Medicines for the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease . 2024-05-12 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  19. Web site: A/S . Santaris Pharma . Santaris Pharma A/S announce agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop RNA-targeted medicines . 2024-05-12 . www.prnewswire.co.uk . en.
  20. Weiss . B. . Davidkova . G. . Zhou . L. W. . March 1999 . Antisense RNA gene therapy for studying and modulating biological processes . Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences . 55 . 3 . 334–358 . 10.1007/s000180050296 . 1420-682X . 10228554. 11146801 .
  21. 2007. GSK, Santaris ink $700M development deal. Fierce Biotech.
  22. Web site: Writer . GEN Staff . 2008-05-15 . Santaris Pharma Consortium Receives $9.33M to Develop RNA Drug Compounds . 2024-05-12 . GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News . en-US.
  23. Joacim Elmén. LNA-mediated microRNA silencing in non-human primates. Nature. 2009. 452. 7189. 10.1038/nature06783. 18368051. 896–899. 2008Natur.452..896E. 4308734.
  24. Robert Lanford . Therapeutic Silencing of MicroRNA-122 in Primates with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection. Science. 2010. 19965718. 10.1126/science.1178178. Hildebrandt-Eriksen. ES. Petri. A. Persson. R. Lindow. M. Munk. ME. Kauppinen. S. Ørum. H. 327. 5962. 198–201. 3436126. 2010Sci...327..198L.
  25. Taylor, Nick. January 13, 2009. Wyeth partners with Santaris on RNA development. Outsourcing Pharma.
  26. Web site: Writer . GEN Staff . 2011-02-28 . Santaris Pharma Licenses miRNA from MGH for Development in Cardiovascular Diseases . 2024-05-12 . GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News . en-US.
  27. John Carrol. January 4, 2011. Pfizer ups ante on Santaris RNA discovery deal with $614M pact. Fierce Biotech.
  28. Santaris Pharma A/S Advances miravirsen, the First microRNA-Targeted Drug to Enter Clinical Trials, Into Phase 2 to Treat Patients Infected With Hepatitis C Virus . 2024-05-12 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  29. Santaris Pharma announces a worldwide discovery alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb for RNA-targeted medicines . 2024-05-12 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  30. Web site: 2013-07-08 . RaNA Taps Santaris LNA Chemistry for RNA-Targeted Drug Development . 2024-05-12 . GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News . en-US.
  31. Web site: 2014-08-05 . Roche to Acquire Santaris Pharma to Expand RNA Portfolio . 2024-05-12 . Yahoo Finance . en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20150708065130/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/roche-acquire-santaris-pharma-expand-204507947.html. 2015-07-08. live.
  32. Web site: 2010 RED HERRING TOP 100 EUROPE WINNERS . 2024-05-12 . Red Herring . en-US.
  33. 2011-10-07 . Exiqon A/S completes litigation against Santaris Pharma a/s . 2024-05-12 . GlobeNewswire News Room . en.
  34. September 26, 2011. Isis files patent infringement lawsuit against Santaris for antisense drugs. News Medical.

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