Ligand Pharmaceuticals initiates a program to develop contrast agents for Diagnostic Imaging

In a bid to develop contrast agents with reduced renal toxicity, Ligand Pharmaceuticals set to initiate a program to develop contrast agents with lessened renal toxicity. Enabling usage during diagnostic imaging procedures, Contrast agents are injectable solutions.  Ligand aims to advance products toward proof-of-concept, followed by selling or out-licensing them for further development and commercialization incorporating  Captisol technology along with data and intellectual property sought from Verrow Pharmaceuticals.

John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand said “Contrast agents are an important component of the diagnostic imaging market; however, they can be toxic and are known to cause kidney damage in some patients. Captisol is a patented, specialized cyclodextrin that plays a role in protecting kidneys from the damaging effects of these agents. This is a potentially highly lucrative product opportunity that Ligand is able to pursue given our ownership of Captisol and our relationships with inventors and scientists in the cyclodextrin field. We are excited to have this program in development and to have secured the associated program rights through our recent acquisition of Verrow Pharmaceuticals.”

The program entails the following details:

– Contrast agents are used to advance diagnostic imaging though posing risks to renal damage despite several benefits.
– Captisol-enabled (CE) iohexol has been shown to prevent nephrotoxicity by more than 50% in animal models
– Eyeing U.S market that witnesses an upswing in imaging procedures per year with iodinated contrast agents, representing an estimated $1.5 billion in annual sales
– CE-iohexol program to focus on partnering-enabling studies, with an estimated $6 million of program spend by Ligand over approximately three years
– CE formulation of iohexol is the prime focus taking into account the lack of alternatives and focused development path for use in the cardiovascular setting
– Opportunities  in abundance for broader “nephroprotection use” of Captisol in other hospital-based diagnostics and treatments post acquisition of Verrow Pharmaceuticals