Info

We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small-molecule product candidates directed toward clinically validated targets in significant therapeutic markets. We designed our product candidates to have improved efficacy, safety or convenience relative to existing therapies and other product candidates in clinical development. Our lead product candidate, PHX1149, is a dipeptidyl peptidase-4, or DPP-4, inhibitor that we are developing as an oral, once-daily treatment for Type 2 diabetes. We recently completed enrollment of our 445 patient Phase 2b clinical trial of PHX1149, designed to measure the reduction in hemoglobin A1c, or HbA1c, when PHX1149 is administered in combination with existing drugs for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. The criteria that the U.S, Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, uses in approving antidiabetes medications are based primarily on safety and on effectiveness in lowering HbA1c levels. Our second product candidate, PHX1766, is a protease inhibitor currently in preclinical development for the treatment of hepatitis C virus, or HCV, infection. We discovered our product candidates using our "fast-follower" strategy for drug discovery, which is directed toward clinically-validated therapeutic targets for which the pharmacological effect of a product candidate can be demonstrated in early-stage clinical trials. We have an active discovery program focused on enzyme targets, including proteases, kinases and polymerases. We believe that by pursuing this strategy, we can reduce the risk associated with novel targets and the time required to advance a product candidate into clinical trials. Using this approach, we advanced PHX1149 into human clinical trials 27 months after initiating our DPP-4 inhibitor discovery program. We intend to maximize the value of our product candidates through independent development, licensing and other partnership opportunities. These may include co-development or co-marketing agreements, licensing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that possess established development and commercialization capabilities or direct commercialization by building our own sales and marketing force.