Dezima Pharma, a biotechnology company developing innovative drugs in the field of dyslipidemia, has started a double blind, placebo controlled, phase IIb dose ranging study of DEZ-001 (previously TA-8995), alone and in combination with statins, in order to study the effects on a wide range of lipids and other biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with mild dyslipidemia.

The TULIP (TA-8995: its Use in patients with mild dysLIPidemia) study will take place in specialized centres across Denmark and the Netherlands and will investigate the effects of different doses of DEZ-001 on established CVD biomarkers over a three month dosing period. DEZ-001 is a CETP inhibitor that has already demonstrated clinically relevant improvements on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels as well as other lipid parameters in healthy volunteers.

Professor John Kastelein, chief scientific officer and founder of Dezima, commented, "I am very pleased that the TULIP study has kicked off with this very promising new compound for patients with dyslipidemia. If successful, this trial will pave the way for larger scale Phase 3 pivotal clinical trials."

"The start of the TULIP study is an exciting milestone for Dezima Pharma," Rob de Ree, CEO of Dezima added. "Being the most potent CETP inhibitor in clinical development with excellent safety, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties we firmly believe that our compound can further improve the outcome for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease due to dyslipidemia."

Dezima Pharma was founded in 2012 by John J P Kastelein, professor of Medicine at the Department of Vascular Medicine at the Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam. The Company recently raised €14.2m from a Series A financing with participation of Forbion Capital Partners, BioGeneration Ventures and New Science Ventures, and a loan from the AgentschapNL, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Dezima Pharma focuses on the development of novel products to treat dyslipidemic patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. Its lead program DEZ-001 involves the development of the CETP inhibitor TA-8995, which was in-licensed from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation.

Dyslipidemia is a generally asymptomatic disease in which serum lipid levels deviate from the normal level. It is considered to be a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease due the direct relation with atherosclerosis.

Dezima Pharma develops novel products to treat dyslipidemic patients suffering from cardiovascular disease (CVD).