Anthera Pharmaceuticals Explained

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Traded As:	NASDAQ:
Key People:	Craig Thompson (President and CEO)
Industry:	Pharmaceuticals
Foundation:	2004
Location:	Hayward, California, U.S.
Homepage:	Anthera.com

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat serious conditions associated with cystic fibrosis, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Liprotamase (Sollpura), Anthera's leading drug candidate which is being developed for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials, and A-623 (Blisibimod) for the treatment of IgA nephropathy^[1] ^[2] is currently in Phase 2 clinical trial.

Products

Blisibimod

Blisibimod is a selective peptibody antagonist of B-cell activating factor (BAFF). BAFF is critical to the development, maintenance and survival of B-cells, but is known to be up-regulated in autoimmune diseases.^[3] ^[4] ^[5] It is primarily expressed by macrophages, monocytes and dendritic cells.^[6] Blisibimod binds to BAFF and inhibits the interaction of BAFF with its receptors.^[7] Blisibimod is currently being evaluated in IgA nephropathy.

Sollpura

In July 2014, Anthera acquired Sollpura (Liprotamase) from Eli Lilly and Company.^[8] Sollpura is an investigational pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) that uses three biotechnology-derived digestive enzymes intended to treat patients with endocrine pancreatic insufficiency as a result of cystic fibrosis and other diseases.^[9]

External links

Official website

Notes and References

Web site: Overview . Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. . August 11, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140821114940/http://www.anthera.com/about_overview.htm . August 21, 2014 .
Web site: Management Team. Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. August 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211715/http://investor.anthera.com/management.cfm?mgmtCat=2327. August 12, 2014. dead.
Groom. J. Kalled. SL. Cutler. AH. Olson. C. Woodcock. SA. Schneider. P. Tschopp. J. Cachero. TG. Batten. M. Wheway. J. Mauri. D. Cavill. D. Gordon. TP. Mackay. CR. Mackay. F. Association of BAFF/BLyS overexpression and altered B cell differentiation with Sjögren's syndrome. 11781351. 10.1172/JCI14121. 109. 1. Jan 2002. J Clin Invest. 59–68. 150825.
Petri. Michelle. Stohl. William. Chatham. Winn. McCune. Joseph. Chevrier. Marc. Ryel. Jeff. Recta. Virginia. Zhong. John. Freimuth. William. ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM Vol. 58, No. 8, August 2008, pp 2453–2459 DOI 10.1002/art.23678 © 2008, American College of Rheumatology Association of Plasma B Lymphocyte Stimulator Levels and Disease Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2008 . 58 . 8 . 2453–2459 . American College of Rheumatology. 10.1002/art.23678 . 18668552 . 2027.42/60900 . August 11, 2014.
Zhang. J. Roschke. K. Baker. KP. Wang. Z. Alarcon. GS. Fessler. BJ. Bastian. H. Kimberly. RP. Zhou. T. Cutting edge: a role for B lymphocyte stimulator in systemic lupus erythematosus. Journal of Immunology. 166. 1. 6–10. J Immunol. 11123269. 2001. 10.4049/jimmunol.166.1.6. free.
Web site: Product Candidates . Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. . August 11, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140816035048/http://www.anthera.com/products_a623.htm . August 16, 2014 .
Hsu. H. Khare. SD. Lee. F. Miner. K. Hu. YL. Stolina. M. Hawkins. N. Chen. Q. Ho. SY. Min. H. Xiong. F. Boone. T. Zack. DJ. A novel modality of BAFF-specific inhibitor AMG623 peptibody reduces B-cell number and improves outcomes in murine models of autoimmune disease. Clinical and Experimentla Rheumatology. 22325420. 30. 2. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2012. 197–201.
Web site: Anthera Pharmaceuticals Announces Acquisition of Sollpura® (liprotamase) for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency From Eli Lilly and Company. Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Anthera Pharmaceuticals. August 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203853/http://investor.anthera.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=859598. August 12, 2014. dead.
Web site: Anthera Pharmaceuticals Announces Acquisition of Sollpura® (liprotamase) for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency From Eli Lilly and Company. Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Anthera Pharmaceuticals. August 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203853/http://investor.anthera.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=859598. August 12, 2014. dead. Sollpura narrowly missed its target for Phase 3 of its clinical trials. It believes that specific conditions in the testing phase, specifically that patients were not able to increase dosages throughout the trial, negatively affected testing and led to the narrow shortcoming for Phase 3. It will conduct a new trial compensating for the perceived shortcoming at some point in the future.