Chromos is a biopharmaceutical company with two drug development programs focused on inflammatory diseases and thrombotic disorders.
BUSINESS FOCUS Developing biological therapies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), thrombotic disorders and inflammatory diseases.
PROPRIETARY PRODUCTS Two humanized monoclonal antibodies with novel mechanisms of action. CHR-1103 is being developed initially to treat multiple sclerosis. CHR-1201 is being developed to treat acute thrombosis
PROPRIETARY PLATFORMS The ACE System and REM technology.
BUSINESS STRATEGY Advance CHR-1103 and CHR-1201 into the clinic, supporting the product development program with revenues generated from Cell Line Engineering business.
Product Candidates
Chromos’ product development program is focused on humanized monoclonal antibody candidates. The two current product candidates, CHR-1103 and CHR-1201, are part of a validated class of drugs known as SAMI’s (selective adhesion molecule inhibitors) that includes such drugs as ReoPro (Centocor/Lilly) and Raptiva (Genentech/Xoma).
CHR-1103 is a monoclonal antibody being developed as a treatment with an initial focus on the treatment of acute relapses associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). The drug’s unique mechanism of action has the potential to reduce the severity and duration of a relapse, stem the residual neurological damage that often accompanies progression of the disease and fill an unmet medical need for an effective acute treatment of MS. Current therapies to treat MS are projected to grow to $7.0 billion by 2009. Although treatments are available, a significant percentage of the 2.5 million people worldwide with MS remain untreated due to the limitations of current therapies. Chromos has completed a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the development of CHR-1103 and anticipates filing an IND application for CHR-1103 in 2007.
The Company’s second product candidate, CHR-1201, is being developed to treat acute thrombosis and offers the possibility of effective treatment of thrombosis involving the brain (neuro-thrombosis) without the risk of bleeding. Existing drugs are seldom be used in patients with neuro-thrombosis due to a high risk of bleeding. The market potential for an anti-thrombotic antibody is substantial, with over four million patients requiring treatment for acute thrombosis each year in the US alone. While sales of existing injectable agents are approximately US $5 billion worldwide, less than 5% of current sales are attributed to the treatment of neuro-thrombotic disorders, due to the high bleeding risk of these patients and pro-hemorrhagic profile of existing agents.
Find out more about CHR-1103 or CHR-1201.
The ACE System
The ACE System is a unique and powerful system for biological engineering of cells. It offers distinct competitive advantages over current systems:
* Speed: permits the rapid and efficient insertion of multiple copies of selected genes in a single operation
* Performance: yields stable high-level expression of proteins
* Versatility: provides a number of unique advantages that allow sequential insertion of dirrerent genes and transfer of the chromosome form which the genes are expressed
The ACE System’s speed and high levels of expression offer clear economic benefits for companies who need to generate cell lines suitable for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals.
The ACE System has an extremely large DNA carrying capacity, allowing the placement and expression of large genes and large genomic fragments.
Chromos is using the ACE System in its Cell Line Engineering business to generate revenue through licensing and contract service fees. Find out more about the ACE System.
The REM Technology
The REM technology is a proprietary approach to immune-based cell therapy in which the number of immune effector cells can be amplified in order to enhance the body's natural ability to recognize and fight disease. In contrast to other forms of immune cell therapies that amplify non-specific immune cells, the REM method identifies the few cells that are capable of eliminating disease and expands these cells to clinically relevant numbers that allow the body to fight disease effectively.
The Company and its collaborators have generated proof-of-principle data in clinical and preclinical studies of several diseases. Chromos completed its first licensing deal with the REM technology in Q3 2005. The Company is continuing to actively license the REM technology.
Intellectual Property
Chromos is aggressively pursuing a broad, worldwide intellectual property portfolio covering its products, the ACE System and the REM technology. Chromos has numerous issued patents in key markets and continues to expand the scope of its patent coverage in commercially relevant areas.
| Chromos enters into $400,000 loan and lending arrangements | 03/20/2008 - 07:00 | $0Million |
| Chromos Announces Bought Deal Private Placement | 03/22/2007 - 07:00 | $4Million |
| Chromos Announces Private Placement | 02/02/2007 - 08:00 | $8Million |
| Chromos Announces Completion of $1 Million Private Placement | 01/17/2005 - 08:00 | $1Million |