 | |
| Founded | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Thomas Borody |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Key people | Patrick McLean (CEO) |
| Website | www |
Giaconda is an Australian biotechnology company headquartered in Sydney. The company was founded in 2004 to commercialise a number of drug combinations developed by Professor Thomas Borody, a Sydney-based gastroenterologist.
Giaconda was named after the Giaconda Vineyard and Winery, which is located nine kilometres southwest of Beechworth in the northeastern part of the Australian state of Victoria. That vineyard in turn derives its name from La Gioconda, which is a nickname for the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci. Giaconda uses a stylised version of the Mona Lisa in its company logo.
Giaconda's CEO is Mr Patrick McLean, a Canadian who was previously Senior Vice-President European Commercial Operations of the Montreal-based Axcan Pharma. Giaconda was a public company whose stock was traded on the Australian Stock Exchange under the stock code GIA. The company completed an initial public offering in September 2005, issuing 12 million shares at 50 Australian cents each. Thomas Borody currently owns around 70% of the stock.
In August 2010 it sold the patents for Myoconda, Heliconda and Picoconda to RedHill Biopharma "Giaconda completes sale of 3 products to RedHill Biopharma". 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
The company went into voluntary administration in February 2011.
Giaconda worked on five products, all of which were given names ending in '-conda'.
Myoconda, the company's lead product, is a combination of the antibiotics rifabutin, clarithromycin and clofazimine. The combination is envisaged as a new treatment for Crohn's disease. Myoconda was first devised by Thomas Borody around 1997. [1] The product has its origins in Borody's view that Crohn's disease is caused by infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis, and that the disease can therefore be fought using drugs effective against the bacterium, such as those used in Myoconda. In 2000 Borody's organisation granted Pharmacia an option to license the Myoconda patent in return for that company agreeing to conduct a Phase III clinical trial. The results of a Phase II trial were published in 2002. [2] The Phase III trial in 213 Crohn's patients was completed in September 2004 was results announced in 2005, however by this stage Pharmacia had merged with Pfizer and the latter company had decided not to exercise its Myoconda option. A non-binding letter of intent was signed in April 2006 with Forest Laboratories for the UK and Irish market. A second Phase III trial is planned, and Giaconda hoped to be able to launch the product in the United States in 2008.
Hepaconda is a product for the treatment of Hepatitis C infection. The product, a combination of bezafibrate with chenodeoxycholic acid, was invented in 2001. [3] Hepaconda is being developed as a 'rescue therapy' for Hepatitis C patients that have exhausted other treatment options. It is also envisaged that Hepaconda could be used to treat primary biliary cirrhosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Giaconda had initially envisaged using ursodeoxycholic acid as the bile acid in Hepaconda, but in 2006 the company shifted its attention to the use of chenodeoxycholic acid, having decided that its patent protection extended to all bile acid / fibrate combinations other than bezafibrate plus ursodoxycholic acid.
Heliconda, a product for the treatment of drug-resistant Helicobacter pylori, is a combination of the antibiotics rifabutin and amoxicillin and the proton pump inhibitor drug pantoprazole. Heliconda was invented in 1998. [4] In 2006 the results of a Phase II study of Heliconda in around 130 patients with resistant H. pylori infection was published. This study demonstrated an eradication of the infection in 90.9% of patients treated with Heliconda. [5]
Ibaconda is a product for the treatment of constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. The product, invented by Thomas Borody in 1997, [6] is a combination of the anti-inflammatory drug olsalazine and the anti-gout drug colchicine.
Picoconda is a bowel preparation for use in gastrointestinal tract procedures. This product was invented by Thomas Borody in 1995. [7] It represents an attempt to replace conventional bowel preparations, which are often considered unpalatable. The product contains a laxative called sodium picosulphate, but capsulised and mixed with electrolytes so that it is palatable.
Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody, sold under the brand name Remicade among others, is a medication used to treat a number of autoimmune diseases. This includes Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Behçet's disease. It is given by slow injection into a vein, typically at six- to eight-week intervals.
Azathioprine, sold under the brand name Imuran, among others, is an immunosuppressive medication. It is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus; and in kidney transplants to prevent rejection. It is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 1 human carcinogen. It is taken by mouth or injected into a vein.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine, as well as the mouth, esophagus, stomach and the anus, whereas ulcerative colitis primarily affects the colon and the rectum.
Famotidine, sold under the brand name Pepcid among others, is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist medication that decreases stomach acid production. It is used to treat peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein. It begins working within an hour.
Achlorhydria and hypochlorhydria refer to states where the production of hydrochloric acid in gastric secretions of the stomach and other digestive organs is absent or low, respectively. It is associated with various other medical problems.
Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine (colon). Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long-term. It broadly fits into the category of digestive diseases.
Chenodeoxycholic acid is a bile acid. Salts of this carboxylic acid are called chenodeoxycholates. Chenodeoxycholic acid is one of the main bile acids. It was first isolated from the bile of the domestic goose, which gives it the "cheno" portion of its name.
Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), also known as a stool transplant, is the process of transferring fecal bacteria and other microbes from a healthy individual into another individual. FMT is an effective treatment for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). For recurrent CDI, FMT is more effective than vancomycin alone, and may improve the outcome after the first index infection.
Rifaximin, is a non-absorbable, broad spectrum antibiotic mainly used to treat travelers' diarrhea. It is based on the rifamycin antibiotics family. Since its approval in Italy in 1987, it has been licensed in over more than 30 countries for the treatment of a variety of gastrointestinal diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, and hepatic encephalopathy. It acts by inhibiting RNA synthesis in susceptible bacteria by binding to the RNA polymerase enzyme. This binding blocks translocation, which stops transcription. It is marketed under the brand name Xifaxan by Salix Pharmaceuticals.
Rifabutin (Rfb) is an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis and prevent and treat Mycobacterium avium complex. It is typically only used in those who cannot tolerate rifampin such as people with HIV/AIDS on antiretrovirals. For active tuberculosis it is used with other antimycobacterial medications. For latent tuberculosis it may be used by itself when the exposure was with drug-resistant TB.
Olsalazine is an anti-inflammatory medication used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. It is sold under the brand name Dipentum.
Bezafibrate is a fibrate drug used as a lipid-lowering agent to treat hyperlipidaemia. It helps to lower LDL cholesterol and triglyceride in the blood, and increase HDL.
Thomas J. Borody is an Australian gastroenterologist.
Management of Crohn's disease involves first treating the acute symptoms of the disease, then maintaining remission. Since Crohn's disease is an immune system condition, it cannot be cured by medication or surgery. Treatment initially involves the use of medications to eliminate infections and reduce inflammation. Surgery may be required for complications such as obstructions, fistulae, abscesses, or if the disease does not respond to drugs within a reasonable time. However, surgery cannot cure Crohn's disease. It involves removing the diseased part of the intestine and rejoining the healthy ends, but the disease tends to recur after surgery.
Raltegravir, sold under the brand name Isentress, is an antiretroviral medication used, together with other medication, to treat HIV/AIDS. It may also be used, as part of post exposure prophylaxis, to prevent HIV infection following potential exposure. It is taken by mouth.
Biological therapy, the use of medications called biopharmaceuticals or biologics that are tailored to specifically target an immune or genetic mediator of disease, plays a major role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Even for diseases of unknown cause, molecules that are involved in the disease process have been identified, and can be targeted for biological therapy. Many of these molecules, which are mainly cytokines, are directly involved in the immune system. Biological therapy has found a niche in the management of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and diseases of unknown cause that result in symptoms due to immune related mechanisms.
This is a timeline of the events relating to the discovery that peptic ulcer disease and some cancers are caused by H. pylori. In 2005, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery that peptic ulcer disease (PUD) was primarily caused by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium with affinity for acidic environments, such as the stomach. As a result, PUD that is associated with H. pylori is currently treated with antibiotics used to eradicate the infection. For decades prior to their discovery, it was widely believed that PUD was caused by excess acid in the stomach. During this time, acid control was the primary method of treatment for PUD, to only partial success. Among other effects, it is now known that acid suppression alters the stomach milieu to make it less amenable to H. pylori infection.
Helicobacter pylori eradication protocols is a standard name for all treatment protocols for peptic ulcers and gastritis in the presence of Helicobacter pylori infection. The primary goal of the treatment is not only temporary relief of symptoms but also total elimination of H. pylori infection. Patients with active duodenal or gastric ulcers and those with a prior ulcer history should be tested for H. pylori. Appropriate therapy should be given for eradication. Patients with MALT lymphoma should also be tested and treated for H. pylori since eradication of this infection can induce remission in many patients when the tumor is limited to the stomach. Several consensus conferences, including the Maastricht Consensus Report, recommend testing and treating several other groups of patients but there is limited evidence of benefit. This includes patients diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma, patients found to have atrophic gastritis or intestinal metaplasia, as well as first-degree relatives of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma since the relatives themselves are at increased risk of gastric cancer partly due to the intrafamilial transmission of H. pylori. To date, it remains controversial whether to test and treat all patients with functional dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or other non-GI disorders as well as asymptomatic individuals.
Vedolizumab, sold under the brand name Entyvio, is a monoclonal antibody medication developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It binds to integrin α4β7. Blocking the α4β7 integrin results in gut-selective anti-inflammatory activity.
The Crohns MAP Vaccine is an experimental Viral vector vaccine intended to prevent or treat Crohn's disease, by provoking an immune response to one possible causative agent of the disease, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. The vaccine is currently about to begin Phase 2 of its development. One of the scientists involved with this research is Thomas Borody, known for his work in developing the 'Triple Therapy' for treating ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori.