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| Neptune Reports Completion of Acasti Pharma Comparative Benchmarking Program versus Lovaza |
| Thursday, November 25 2010 | |||||||||
Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. Reports Completion of Acasti Pharma Comparative Benchmarking Program versus Lovaza®
Laval,
Québec, CANADA – November 25, 2010 – Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. (“Neptune”) (NASDAQ: NEPT - TSX.V: NTB) subsidiary, Acasti Pharma Inc. (“Acasti”), reports the completion of its preclinical program designed to compare the lipid management effects of Acasti’s drug candidate CaPre™ versus prescription drug Lovaza®. Blood lipids were monitored in two animal models in order to assess and compare the efficacy of CaPre™ and Lovaza® over a 12-week treatment period.
“These results suggest that a low (0.5g to 1g) daily dosing of CaPre™ is more effective than 4g Lovaza® in elevating HDL-C and lowering LDL-C and triglycerides. These effects become even more striking considering that a 1g daily dose of CaPre™ contains 8.9 times less EPA and 11.1 times less DHA than the recommended 4g daily dose of Lovaza®. It is also important to note that the triglycerides reduction was observed only after 4 weeks and was maintained throughout the study suggesting a significant metabolic impact of CaPre™,” said Dr. Bruno Battistini, Senior Director, Pharmaceutical R&D of Acasti. “Taken together, the present and previously disclosed data suggest that CaPre™ may be an effective alternative for the management of cardiometabolic disorders due to its therapeutic versatility and multiple applications including also a superiority over Lovaza® on Omegas-3 Index and impaired glucose tolerance. This difference in activity is likely to be explained by the fact that phospholipids functionalize the omega-3 (EPA and DHA) contained in CaPre™ versus omega-3-acid ethyl ester in Lovaza®,” said Pierre Lemieux, Ph.D., COO of Acasti. “According to market research firm IMS Health, global sales of Lovaza® topped $1 billion in 2009, with $758 million of those sales originating in the U.S. Moreover, in 2007, GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LSE/NYSE: GSK) acquired the USA rights to Lovaza® by its acquisition of Reliant Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $1.65 billion, which is an indicator of the potential value of CaPre™,” he added. “To be able to benchmark against a formulation such as Lovaza®, being the only FDA approved “prescription omega 3 fish oil” solely indicated for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia (very high triglycerides >500mg/dl)) along with a healthy diet that has now reached over 1B$ in sales, is encouraging. We believe that CaPre™ is in a much better position to improve the compliance of patients and help the treating physician. This latest benchmarking program gives us a great deal of confidence regarding the upcoming phase II clinical trial for which we recently submitted a Clinical Trial Application in Canada,” said Dr. Tina Sampalis, President of Acasti. About the animal models Adult male ZDF and SD rats were treated once-a-day with either CaPre™, Lovaza® or placebo. Blood lipids (TGs, LDL-C, HDL-C) were measured using standard clinical chemistry by an independent laboratory. The Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat on a high-fat diet is a well-accepted model of cardiometabolic disorder routinely used to specifically evaluate the efficacy of active pharmaceutical ingredients on high triglycerides (TGs) and diabetes. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats fed a normal diet were used to compare the effect of both omega-3 distinct formulations over bad (LDL) and good (HDL) cholesterol. About
Neptune
Technologies & Bioressources Inc. Neptune is an
industry-recognized leader in the innovation, production and
formulation of science-based and clinically proven novel phospholipid
products for the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets. The
Company focuses on growing consumer health markets including
cardiovascular, inflammatory and neurological diseases driven by
consumers taking a more proactive approach to managing health and
preventing disease. The Company sponsors clinical trials aimed to
demonstrate its product health benefits and to obtain regulatory
approval for label health claims. Neptune is continuously expanding
its intellectual property portfolio as well as clinical studies and
regulatory approvals. Neptune’s products are marketed and
distributed in over 20 countries worldwide. Acasti Pharma is developing a product
portfolio of proprietary novel long-chain omega-3 phospholipids.
Phospholipids are the major component of cell membranes and are
essential for all vital cell processes. They are one of the
principal constituents of High Density Lipoprotein (good
cholesterol) and, as such, play an important role in modulating
cholesterol efflux. Acasti Pharma’s proprietary novel phospholipids
carry and functionalize the polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids EPA
and DHA, which have been shown to have substantial health benefits
and which are stabilized by potent antioxidants. Acasti Pharma is
focusing initially on treatments for chronic cardiovascular
conditions within the over-the-counter, medical food and
prescription drug markets. NeuroBioPharm
is pursuing pharmaceutical neurological applications, and a
clinical study for a medical food product with a multinational
partner is already initiated. The development of a prescription drug
candidate is currently in progress. Advanced clinical development
and commercialization is planned to be carried out with
multinational partners.
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