Anacor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ANAC), based in Palo Alto, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel small-molecule therapeutics derived from its boron chemistry platform. Anacor was founded in 2002 based on technology created by Dr. Lucy Shapiro at Stanford University and Dr. Stephen Benkovic at Pennsylvania State University. Since then, the company has generated a pipeline of both topical and systemic boron-based compounds of which five are currently in clinical development.[1]
Contents |
Boron is a naturally occurring element in the environment, but relative to carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, little research has been done on the role of boron in therapeutics because of the limited understanding of the physical properties necessary to provide boron-based compounds with the attributes required of pharmaceutical therapies as well as difficulty in chemical synthesis. However, boron has two qualities that give it advantages in the small-molecule drug discovery process. First, boron has a unique geometry that allows compounds made from it to have two distinct shapes, giving boron-based drugs the ability to interact with biological targets in novel ways and to address targets not amenable to intervention by traditional carbon-based compounds. And second, boron's enhanced reactivity as compared to carbon allows the molecules to hit targets that are difficult to inhibit with carbon chemistry.
AN2690 is a topical antifungal product candidate for the treatment of onychomycosis, a fungal infection of the nail and nail bed. Anacor began its Phase 3 trials in December 2010.[2] AN2690 inhibits an essential fungal enzyme, leucyl-transfer RNA synthetase, or LeuRS, required for protein synthesis. The inhibition of protein synthesis leads to termination of cell growth and cell death, eliminating the fungal infection. No treatment-related systemic side effects have been observed in any of its clinical trials.
AN2728 is a topical anti-inflammatory product candidate for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. AN2728 inhibits PDE4 and reduces the production of TNF-alpha, a precursor of the inflammation associated with psoriasis as well as other cytokines, including IL-12 and IL-23, which are proteins believed to be involved in the inflammation process and immune responses. AN2728 is currently in Phase 2b for psoriasis and Phase 2 for atopic dermatitis. [3]