Xeptiva Therapeutics, a biotech startup born in the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, advances in its development
December 29, 2022
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The Institut Pasteur de Montevideo and the biotech startup Xeptiva Therapeutics LLC, co-founded by researchers from the institute and focused on the development of therapeutic vaccines for the veterinary market, signed a licensing agreement on December 29 that will allow the company to work with the technology patented and generated in the institute to transform it into a marketable product.
As a result of almost 10 years of research, the researchers Luis Barbeito, MD, Emiliano Trías, PhD and Valentina Varela, Mag. together with the veterinarians Gabriel Semiglia and Andrea Filomeno, developed an innovative immunotherapy that can block specific factors that cause chronic pain as a treatment to apply to companion animals (dogs, cats and horses). |
Currently there are very few effective therapies to deal with this disease in animals and humans. In particular, this immunotherapy—a type of treatment that stimulates the body's natural defenses—was conceived as a vaccine that helps to boost the body's response to inflammation that causes pain. Being patentable, the scientists then partnered with the bioentrepreneur Josefina Correa, MS, PMP, and the angel investor Santiago Flores, and co-founded the biotech start-up in 2021, which has begun local animal testing to test the efficacy and safety of the therapy, always under the supervision of an ethics committee in the treatment of animals.
The work is mainly focused on diseases that affect dogs, cats and horses whose common denominator is chronic inflammation. These diseases include, for example, osteoarthritis in dogs and cats —which generates chronic pain, progressive and disabling motor impairment—, and atopic dermatitis in dogs. The latter is a very difficult-to-treat skin inflammation that causes itching, skin lesions, and a significant decrease in the quality of life for pets. Xeptiva will now conduct controlled clinical studies in animals and recently entered into an agreement with the Faculty of Veterinary to carry out new controlled trials in dogs affected by chronic pain.
These tests will begin next March 2023. Once this stage is complete, if the efficacy and safety of the product are confirmed, partners will be sought to bring the product to market, which includes stages of registration, formal approval and scale production. It is estimated that the products could be on the market in 2 to 3 years. Correa stressed that the company aims at the international market and the technology developed has already shown interest from leading international companies in the field that highlight its high effectiveness. On the other hand, the characteristics of this development will allow it to be a product of universal reach, with a reasonable cost for pet owners.
About Xeptiva Therapeutics LLC Xeptiva Therapeutics LLC is a clinical stage biotech company dedicated to the development of immunotherapies to threat conditions associated with chronic neuroinflammation in companion animals. The company was created with the mission to improve companion animal’s health span (quality of life) and lifespan (years of life) by developing simple, affordable, disruptive, and highly effective immunotherapies.
The work is mainly focused on diseases that affect dogs, cats and horses whose common denominator is chronic inflammation. These diseases include, for example, osteoarthritis in dogs and cats —which generates chronic pain, progressive and disabling motor impairment—, and atopic dermatitis in dogs. The latter is a very difficult-to-treat skin inflammation that causes itching, skin lesions, and a significant decrease in the quality of life for pets. Xeptiva will now conduct controlled clinical studies in animals and recently entered into an agreement with the Faculty of Veterinary to carry out new controlled trials in dogs affected by chronic pain.
These tests will begin next March 2023. Once this stage is complete, if the efficacy and safety of the product are confirmed, partners will be sought to bring the product to market, which includes stages of registration, formal approval and scale production. It is estimated that the products could be on the market in 2 to 3 years. Correa stressed that the company aims at the international market and the technology developed has already shown interest from leading international companies in the field that highlight its high effectiveness. On the other hand, the characteristics of this development will allow it to be a product of universal reach, with a reasonable cost for pet owners.
About Xeptiva Therapeutics LLC Xeptiva Therapeutics LLC is a clinical stage biotech company dedicated to the development of immunotherapies to threat conditions associated with chronic neuroinflammation in companion animals. The company was created with the mission to improve companion animal’s health span (quality of life) and lifespan (years of life) by developing simple, affordable, disruptive, and highly effective immunotherapies.