Laguna Hills drug startup Alacrity Biosciences Inc. is setting its sights on the growing market for drugs to treat dry eyes, armed with a multimillion-dollar financing war chest and a chief executive from Allergan Inc.
Alacrity boss David Power knows dry eye drugs. He spent 22 years at Irvine-based Allergan where he oversaw the company’s Restasis drug, which came out in 2003. Last year, Restasis accounted for some $270 million in sales for Allergan.
“If you talk to any of my old Allergan colleagues and mention my name, they’ll pretty much say, ‘oh, the Restasis guy,'” Power said.
Alacrity’s drug hopeful, ALTY-0501, is nearing third-stage clinical trials. The drug works differently from traditional dry eye medications.
It’s designed to work by maintaining the barrier on the eye’s surface that can be eroded by either insufficient or abnormal tear production, Power said.
Restasis is an anti-inflammatory drug, a more traditional way of treating dry eyes.
The dry eye market is potentially big: Alacrity quotes figures showing it could reach $500 million to $1 billion annually by 2009.
The company is looking at mid-2010 as a potential date for ALTY-0501 to hit consumers.
Power, who spent nearly 22 years at Allergan, including in global dry eye marketing positions, was tapped to head Alacrity after a recommendation by Stephen Pflugfelder, an ophthalmology professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.
Pflugfelder served as a consultant during the development of Restasis.
Paramount BioSciences LLC licensed Pflugfelder’s patent for ALTY-0501. The drug development and healthcare investment company started Alacrity in 2005, providing seed money.
Alacrity has raised $13.3 million in a pair of debt offerings that are set to convert into shares in the company, the most recent being $8.45 million in March.
The company, which doesn’t have sales yet, hasn’t yet set a date for the debt conversion to stock.
On the question of whether Alacrity eventually would be acquired, Power said the company is open to it.
“We’re a tiny little company, so I think we’re going to make the best decision for shareholders in our company and if someone comes along with an offer so good that we can’t turn it down, we would take it,” he said.
Alacrity counts three workers: Power, Karin Ludwig, chief medical officer, and Martyn Gunning, vice president of business development. More people will be hired, Power said, when Alacrity completes its equity financing.
When it comes to other work, Power said Alacrity is able to tap personnel for certain tasks, such as legal, accounting, payroll, clinical studies and regulatory matters, through a New York-based team that supports companies that Paramount BioSciences has started.
“I only pay for the service as I use it, so that enables you to take your seed capital and money that you’ve raised and plow it into developing the product,” Power said.
Power is gracious toward his former employer and the drug he helped bring to life: “You will never hear me say anything bad about Restasis; (it’s an) excellent product.”
Restasis is the only approved prescription dry eye drug.
Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Irvine and Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Durham, N.C., also are working on dry eye products, Power said.
Dry eyes isn’t Alacrity’s only prospect. The company also is in pre-clinical development for ALTY-0601, a glaucoma treatment, and wants to add retinal disease-targeting drugs to its pipeline, he said.
