Emergent Technologies and Caisson Biotech Form Strategic Alliance with Local Health Care Providers to Improve Delivery and Performance of a Therapeutic Drug

Austin, TX (PRWEB) May 01, 2013

Emergent Technologies, Inc. and portfolio company, Caisson Biotech, LLC, developer of the novel HEPtuneTM drug delivery system, are teaming with Seton Healthcare Family and the research group of Dr. T.J. Milling to modify a therapeutic drug in order to increase its performance and safety and improve patient experience and outcomes. Together they will select a final drug candidate for HEPtune application, design studies for the enhanced drug and subsequently take the HEPtune drug through preclinical, Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials. Seton and Milling’s research team will provide in-kind clinical support.

HEPtune is a novel drug delivery platform being developed by Caisson Biotech that uses naturally occurring heparosan, conjugated to pharmaceutical drugs to enhance the therapeutic properties of these drugs by increasing product half-life, reducing immunogenicity and increasing stability. A key patient benefit of the technology is fewer injections and HEPtune promises to be a safer alternative to polyethylene glycol (PEG), a widely used, polymer-based drug delivery system that has been shown to produce toxicity and other unwanted side effects.

Under the terms of the agreement, Caisson will provide HEPtune technology access and intellectual property rights; procurement and development of the therapeutic drug; and technical support and administration for the duration of the collaboration. Seton will supply the use of hospital facilities and staff necessary to conduct clinical trials, and Milling’s research team will conduct and provide all clinical support and trial data analysis.

Planning for this joint venture began over a year ago, after Caisson signed a multi-million dollar development and licensing agreement with pharmaceutical leader Novo Nordisk.

“Dr. Tom Caven and I began evaluating ways we could work together, leveraging Seton’s infrastructure, the leading enrollment and clinical trial experience of Dr. Milling’s team, and Emergent’s expertise in early stage innovation commercialization,“ said Tommy Harlan, Emergent CEO, founder and Caisson Chairman. “The complementary competencies and resources, along with the outside validation of the Caisson technology, set the stage for the collaboration. We realized that by combining our strengths we could build value in our individual organizations, accelerate the growth of biotech in Austin, and ultimately help bring a superior drug to market.”

“This is an opportunity to put Seton’s clinical infrastructure to work in demonstrating the potential of combining Emergent and new medical education and research assets like the Seton/University of Texas Southwestern Clinical Research Institute in Austin,” said Dr. Caven, Vice President of Medical Affairs at the University Medical Center Brackenridge which is operated by Seton, “This alliance can also serve as a model for future collaborations.”

About Emergent Technologies, Inc.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Emergent Technologies, Inc. (Emergent) utilizes its innovation-based, partner-driven model to identify, manage, develop and bring to market game-changing scientific discoveries. Emergent's diverse business and technical team along with its unique innovation process of transforming scientific breakthroughs into technology platforms with multiple applications, maximizes the value of promising ideas and underutilized intellectual properties without the risk associated with commercial development. Emergent applies its experience and expertise to provide investors, entrepreneurs, and industry partners access to innovative solutions to advance initiatives and protect and grow core businesses with novel, differentiating technology. For more information, visit: http://www.emergenttechnologies.com

About Caisson Biotech

Caisson Biotech is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heparinex, L.L.C., both portfolio companies of Emergent Technologies, Inc. Caisson uses novel, heparosan-based conjugates to enhance the therapeutic properties of pharmaceuticals by increasing product half-life, reducing immunogenicity, and increasing stability. Chief Scientist and Professor Dr. Paul L. DeAngelis at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center developed the drug delivery platform. Emergent Technologies, Inc. is a leading innovation solutions company headquartered in Austin, Texas. To learn more about Caisson, visit: http://www.caissonbiotech.com

About Seton Healthcare

The Seton Healthcare Family, a faith-based non-profit organization founded in 1902 by the Daughters of Charity, is the leading provider of comprehensive, advanced health care and services in Central Texas.

Seton operates more than 90 clinical locations including five major medical centers, two community hospitals, three rural hospitals, an inpatient mental health hospital, three primary care clinics for the uninsured and several strategically located health facilities. The system offers the region’s only Level I Trauma Centers for adult and pediatric patients. Its insurance division works with commercial insurance companies, community physicians and Medicaid and Medical Access programs for low-income persons, to assist in the management of the region’s overall health.

Seton is home to The University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center’s Austin medical residency programs, as well as the Seton/UTSW Clinical Research Institute.
The organization’s role in education, research and spiritual programming furthers Seton’s mission to improve the health of the communities it serves, with special concern for the poor and the vulnerable, as it prepares the region’s next generation of clinicians. In Fiscal Year 2011, Seton provided almost $350 million in charity care.

Seton is a member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest not-for-profit health network. For more information, please visit http://www.seton.net.

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