BioMAS Ltd., developer of innovative pharmaceuticals, was founded in the year 2000 by two leading researchers, inventors and founders - Prof. Michael Albeck and Prof. Benjamin Sredni. The Company is developing two small tellurium-based compounds, the AS101 and the SAS, for the treatment of various conditions, mainly based on the compounds’ activity in the inhibition of ligand binding to integrins, which was demonstrated in both academic and clinical frameworks.
BioMAS has found an integrin-inhibitory activity of novel small tellurium molecules, based on their interaction with thiols. Integrins are emerging therapeutic targets in many human pathologies. The ability to efficiently control their activation/deactivation has become a central focus of therapy. The new non-toxic AS101/SAS drugs may alter the classical concept of integrins activation/deactivation and may offer a new therapeutic strategy to supersede existing strategies of competitive antagonism of ligand binding through Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) mimetic drugs. These drugs evidence to date, in both pre-clinical studies and clinical trials the potential to treat various (1) Central Nervous System (“CNS”) diseases, e.g. Parkinson's disease, stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis (2) dermatological disorders, e.g. psoriasis, Atopic dermatitis and (3) exhibited impressive anti-viral activities , e.g. eradicating Human Papilloma Virus (“HPV”) warts.
The Company enjoys the benefit of the results from drug development studies and human clinical trials conducted under two INDs, which evidenced minimal toxicity and proved the safety for its lead molecule AS101, together with a solid Chemistry, Manufacturing & Controls (CMC) package, allowing for quick and very cost effective launch of clinical trials.
BioMAS benefits also from successfully completed preclinical studies and clinical trials (Phase II) for several anti viral indications. Of the many potential indications that may benefit from the drug, BioMAS has decided to focus on three indications in a pipelined process: (i) complete the ongoing Phase II human clinical trial for topical treatment of psoriasis and initiate similar human clinical trial of Atopic Dermatitis , (ii) initiate a Phase II clinical trial to treat thrombocytopenia induced by chemotherapy in cancer patients (“CIT” - Chemotherapy-Induced Thrombocytopenia), in order to validate and strengthen results of a previous clinical trial, (iii) initiate a pilot/Phase IIA human trial to prove the ability of the AS101 to convert “non-responder” Acute Myeloid Lymphoma (AML) cancer cells to “responders”.
In addition BioMAS plans to initiate additional various pre-clinical studies to prove the efficacy of its drugs in treating Parkinson’s disease, Epilepsy and other CNS diseases. At least one human clinical trial is scheduled for 2009 by AEON Ltd., a subsidiary company of BioMAS.
