OFFICIAL OPENING OF TESORX CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE AT WESTERN UNIVERSITY
Significant collaboration launched between academia and commercial pharma
(San Francisco, CA) April 3, 2015 - Pharmaceutical leaders and university scientists have teamed up with local business and civic dignitaries to mark the opening of a new laboratory currently at the forefront of a new testosterone drug for men.
Management executives from Southern California-based speciality pharmaceutical company TesoRx Pharma, science experts from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, and the mayor of the city of Pomona officially opened the TesoRx Centre of Excellence at WesternU (CoE), during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, April 3.
The ethos behind the CoE is to leverage the scientific expertise of the university in collaboration with commercial enterprise to develop a portfolio of products to advance innovative medical therapies which can be brought to market.
The CoE, which will comprise a working laboratory, office space and access to WesternU resources, will also provide real-life pharmaceutical development experience to promising talent from the university, along with training and education opportunities.
Dr TR Thirucote, Chairman and CEO of TesoRx Pharma, said: “This Centre of Excellence is an exciting new venture to develop medical therapies independently and at the university through collaboration. It offers an arena to advance products commercially as well as provide an outlet for developing selective therapies that fulfil humanitarian needs.”
TesoRx is already leading the way in development of the first orally ingested testosterone compound TSX-002 for the treatment of hypogonadism – more commonly known as Low-T.
Currently in the U.S., the treatment of this condition is through gels and injectables. This accounts for around 90 percent of market share. If approved, TSX-002 will be the first product to orally deliver an unmodified, bio-identical form of the human hormone.
Having already licensed in other global markets, TesoRx is advancing toward Phase 3 pivotal trials in the U.S., aiming to start in early 2016.
The CoE will be overseen by TesoRx Chief Scientific Advisor Dr Guru Betageri, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at WesternU and the inventor of TSX-002.
“We are already using the resources we have at the university that underpin our lead compound in the testosterone market,” Betageri said. “This new facility now provides us with a dedicated space to work even more collaboratively on advancing our other therapies.”
Steven Henriksen, PhD, Vice President for Research and Biotechnology at WesternU, added: “Equally important, this on-site Centre of Excellence will enable us to invest in the future of our scientific expertise by giving training and research opportunities to our university’s homegrown talent.”
About TesoRx
TesoRx Pharma LLC is focused on rapidly developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products in rare and specialty markets with limited treatment options and high unmet need. Its growing pipeline includes assets in urology, oncology and rare diseases that have been formulated with TesoRx’s proprietary proliposomal delivery technology. The company was founded in 2010 through a collaboration with Western University of Health Sciences that includes joint R&D efforts at the TesoRx Centre of Excellence in Pomona, California. More information at www.tesorx.com
Contact:
Binay Curtis, Galaxy Six Strategies Public Relations: Binay@galaxysix.com