Prismic hunting for anti-psychotic alliances
Under the deal, the firm bagged Scarista’s exclusive licence agreement with Amarin Neuroscience to develop, market, and out-license products based on a portfolio of highly purified forms of omega-3 fatty acids.
Now the company says it is on the lookout for partnerships with one or more pharmaceutical companies to develop the efficacy of well-established anti-psychotic compounds with the omega-3 platform.
It hopes to see product launches in the central nervous system (CNS) arena as soon as 2014.
Prismic chairman Peter Moriarty told in-PharmaTechologist: “We believe that there is a straight-forward path to market with a readily available API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and a clear medical need.
“Based on our knowledge of the industry and the regulatory field, we believe that a pharmaceutical partner company could bring a patent-protected product to market relatively expeditiously, 2014 to 15, and at a comparatively minimal cost.”
Moriarty added that one of the key focusses for the Arizona, US-based firm is a highly purified omega-3 known as an eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), primarily used to enhance the effects of drugs on neurotransmitter metabolism – linked with impulsive aggression.
He said: “We believe that the most expeditious and successful path to market might involve the development of a combi-pack containing two products, namely a well established anti-psychotic and our highly purified EPA, where the combination treatment can minimize one or more of the significant side-effects associated with the anti-psychotic medication.”
The firm hopes that by working with “well-established” compounds it should reduce the need for extensive formulation work.
Cutting costs
Prismic also aims to market the products at pricing levels that will mean more affordability for patients.
And in order to cut costs, whilst still remaining commercially attractive, the business will control staffing levels and boost its remote access technology to become a “virtual pharmaceutical company”.
“Prismic will strive to minimise the number of direct employees, and maximize the use of technology to achieve exceptional levels of productivity and profitability,” Moriarty told us.
“In pursuit of this ‘virtual pharmaceutical company’ approach, Prismic will utilise its remote access video communication tools to conduct speaker programs, bring the key opinion leaders and medical science liaison executives into the offices and homes of its target physicians and other healthcare influencers, and monitor clinical trials.
“This will be addition to its deployment of such remote access technology to minimise the sales and promotional costs associated with the traditional pharmaceutical company model.”
