Acusphere, Inc, a specialty pharmaceutical company, revealed in a press note that it is currently focusing on partnership discussions, postponing its plans to announce its new product development programme scheduled for the late third quarter of 2007.
These discussions primarily cover the company's lead product, Imagify, (perflubutane polymer microspheres) injectable suspension, a cardiovascular drug for the detection of coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
"We are very pleased by the significant interest we are experiencing from an extensive array of potential partners, and the breadth and seriousness of discussions in which we are engaged. We are confident that a partnership agreement for Imagify would provide a strengthened financial basis both for pushing forward with our preparations for that product as well as our new product development efforts," said, Sherri C. Oberg, president and chief executive officer, Acusphere
"We are very optimistic about our upcoming new product development plans that utilize our proprietary microsphere technology, and indeed our recent efforts are uncovering more opportunities for development. We anticipate sharing an update on new product development later, but we simply want to be completely focused right now on our more immediate priorities," She added.
Acusphere is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops new drugs and improved formulations of existing drugs using its proprietary microsphere technology. The company is focused on developing proprietary drugs that can offer significant benefits such as improved safety and efficacy, increased patient compliance, greater ease of use, expanded indications or reduced cost.
In May 2007 Acusphere announced the results of phase 3 pivotal trials for Imagify. The company is currently working towards submitting an NDA (New Drug Application) for Imagify.
Imagify is designed to enable ultrasound to compete more effectively with nuclear stress testing, the leading procedure for detecting coronary artery disease. It is estimated that over 10 million procedures are done each year in the U.S. to detect coronary artery disease. Imagify and the company's other product candidates were created using proprietary technology that enables Acusphere to control the porosity and size of nanoparticles and microspheres in a versatile manner that allows them to be customized to address the delivery needs of a variety of drugs.