October 30, 2019
Japanese patent granted for Lobsor Pharmaceuticals’ new therapeutic system Lecigon® for symptomatic treatment of Advanced Parkinson’s Disease
Lobsor Pharmaceuticals AB a privately held Swedish company based in Uppsala, today announced the Japanese Patent Office has issued a Decision to Grant a patent covering Lecigon® a new therapeutic system for symptomatic treatment of Advanced Parkinson’s Disease (APD). Lecigon is a proprietary pharmaceutical gel formulation containing a combination of levodopa/carbidopa and entacapone for continuous infusion into the small intestine through a newly developed lightweight pump.
Ulf Rosén, CEO and Co-founder of Lobsor comments: “I am delighted to add Japan to the list of granted patents which makes our worldwide IP protection even stronger. It also comes at a very timely moment since we have initiated the process of evaluating potential commercial partnerships in Asia in general and Japan in particular”.
There are approximately 200,000 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease in Japan, and the number of patients is increasing due to the aging of the population.
For further information, please contact:
Ulf Rosén, Co-founder and CEO of Lobsor Pharmaceuticals AB
Telephone: +46 70 686 29 16
Email: ulf.rosen@lobsor.com
About Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease. PD is age-related and affects nearly 1% of the population over 60 years and 5% over 85 years, with high health, social, and economic impact. PD is a progressive disorder in which dopaminergic neurons are degenerated. Dopamine deficiency at (striatal) receptor sites presents as both motor and non-motor disability such as bradykinesia (slow movement), tremor, rigidity (stiffness), postural instability, depression, and sleep disturbance. The symptoms vary between patients and the number of symptoms and the severity tend to increase over time, creating a more complex clinical picture.
Parkinson’s disease, particularly in its advanced stage is a devastating disease with symptoms including uncontrollable shaking or tremor, lack of coordination and speaking difficulties. No less than an estimated seven to ten million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease and for most patients their disease will eventually reach the advanced stage. In addition, erratic gastric functioning is an important part of making patients refractive to oral treatment and techniques are used to bypass the stomach by introducing a small tube via the abdomen wall for pharmaceutical infusion into the duodenum. With disease progression patients eventually reaches the stage of Advanced Parkinson’s Disease. It is estimated that about 10% of individuals with PD are in advanced stage, of whom only 10 – 30% receive an adequate treatment. The advanced therapies are expected to continue to grow for many years.
About Lobsor
Lobsor Pharmaceuticals is a privately held company based in Uppsala, Sweden founded late 2013. It is a fully owned subsidiary to Lobsor Holding AB. The founders of Lobsor, Ulf Rosén and Roger Bolsöy, have substantial previous experience from the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in advanced stages especially continuous infusion of levodopa into the small intestine via a pump. Based on their own experience, and in close liaison with leading neurologists and patient organizations expressing and formulating areas of therapy improvements, the Lecigon treatment system has been developed with the aim to, in several aspects, improve daily living for individuals affected by progressive Parkinson’s disease and suitable for an invasive treatment. Lobsor has signed an agreement with Nordic InfuCare regarding sales, marketing and distribution of Lecigon in the Nordic market.
In 2018 founders established US based company, Intrance Medical Systems Inc. which is responsible to obtain market authorizations the US and Canada. Several interactions have already been made with the US medical agency (FDA). In addition, Lobsor is now exploring various commercial routes forward to ensure that the treatment will be made available for patients in the European market and the rest of the world.
About Lecigon
The new patented treatment is a pharmaceutical gel formulation containing a combination of levodopa/carbidopa and entacapone in a 50 ml pre-filled container for infusion continuously into the small intestine. The treatment system includes a newly developed wearable pump that weighs 134 grams.