Partnership sought to commercialise hospital infection treatment

Partnership opportunity

Ipsat Therapies, a Finnish biotechnology start-up, is looking for partnership to commercialise a treatment aimed at preventing hospital infections.   

Ipsat is developing its proprietary method of combating infections picked up in hospitals called the Intestinal Protection System in Antibiotic Treatment - IPSAT™ which aims to suppress antibacterial resistance while leaving healthy bacteria unharmed.  A successful Phase IIb trial has recently shown the efficacy of Ipsat P1A in preserving intestinal microflora and preventing the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“To bring the lead product to market we are seeking a partner who has the marketing and sale strengths in the hospital segment,” said Nora Kareela, CEO of Ipsat, “We are also seeking private investment to complete next clinical trials with a second antibiotic. The process is ongoing and we plan to close a financing round in early spring of 2008.”

Infections picked up in hospitals are in the number of 2 million a year, causing 90,000 deaths in the US, according to statistics from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 70 per cent of the bacteria causing the infections are resistant to commonly used antibiotics.  The financial costs have been estimated as up to $27.5 billion annually in extra health care in the US alone.

“Our strategy is to develop the product ourselves until its late stage clinical development and license the product to a partner for a specific region/regions. However, we do not exclude the possibility of developing a compound-on-demand, i.e. specifically designed to degrade selected antibiotic,” added Kareela.

Headquarted in Helsinki, Finland, Ipsat employs 32 people and focuses on developing anti-infective products for the prevention of antibiotic resistance, antibiotic-associated diarrhoea as well as hospital associated infections.  The company became operational in 2000 and to date it has raised €22 million in funding.