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Kucera aims to score with diverse compounds

BT Catalyst, May-June, 2004

Burroughs Wellcome. Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Trimeris. Kucera Pharmaceutical Co.

"It's remarkable that there have been so many companies in North Carolina that have been at the forefront of developing anti-viral medications," said Ronald Fleming, Kucera's vice president and chief scientific officer.

Kucera's lead drug candidate, KPC-2, shows promise in combating HIV. The Triad-based company is also focused on developing drugs for other viral diseases and cancer, but Kucera has a potential winner in another compound that would diversify its portfolio even more.

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The company announced on March 4 that the National Institutes of Health has discovered the molecule KPC-16, which shows promise in attacking the virus that causes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

Officials said the surprising news of the compound's potential effectiveness once again validates Kucera's technology, which makes new chemical structures and reduces the toxicity of drugs.

Company leaders hope success will mean more funding and even bigger results.

"We are bullish about the company and our eventual impact on novel treatments for viral and cancer illness" said Russ Read, the company's chief executive officer.

In 2001, Kucera spun from research developed at Wake Forest University's School of Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The company's platform technology enables the conjugation of small molecules and other drugs to tackle viral diseases. The new drugs would have a longer half-life, reduce side effects and increase penetration across cell membranes and in the brain, Fleming said.

Fleming also said AIDS patients need compounds that meet several goals. The compounds must be active against drug-resistant HIV, have simple dosing regimens, be well tolerated and seep into HIV tissue reservoirs.

The company's most advanced compound, KPC-2, is still undergoing animal testing. If the compound successfully navigates through the regulatory process, then it could reach the market by 2009.

As for the potential SARS treatment, Kucera is beginning studies that could take up to two years to complete. The company is looking to secure more than $2 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to move the compound into the animal testing phase. Kucera will learn in May whether the federal agency will grant approval.

Kucera's work and the reputation of its management team have helped to secure grants, loans and venture capital money to continue the drug research.

Read and Fleming said one of the keys to getting financing is having both a strong management team and a research focus that hits its milestones. Read said the team "has delivered through the lean times and so we are optimistic."

The NIH awarded $100,000 to Kucera for an HIV application, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center has issued two loans totaling $225,000 since September. Academy Funds, Piedmont Angel Network, and the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) have also made investments.

"They have made very rapid progress on federal, Center and the SBTDC-funded research projects that explore and exploit the power of the technology," said Robert Lindberg, the Biotechnology Center's technology development director.

The company has six patents issued for its work, and four more are pending. Kucera has secured $2.9 million in investments to date, and the company hopes to increase that figure to $6 million in the next round.

"A year ago, things were tight, but we have been pretty conservative (with spending) since day one," Fleming said. "We know the clouds will open up and the sun will shine. The key is to reach our milestones."

In the meantime, the company moved into new laboratory space at the Research Triangle Park while maintaining its home base in Winston-Salem Read said the company is situated in a good area to explore drug discovery research and partnership possibilities with Triad and other state-base companies.

North Carolina Biotechnology Center Awards Kucera $150,000

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded Kucera Pharmaceutical Co. of Winston-Salem $150,000 through the Center's Small Business Research Awards program. Kucera will use the loan to continue its studies of effective treatments for advanced lung cancer, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the virus responsible for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

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Kucera aims to score with diverse compounds

BT Catalyst, May-June, 2004

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