COMPANIES

UroGen Pharma’s Immunotherapy Product to Treat High-Grade Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

UroGen Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies designed to change the standard of care for urological pathologies with a focus on uro-oncology. They currently have an innovative and broad pipeline of product candidates that they believe can overcome the deficiencies of current treatment options for a variety of urological conditions. Currently, their focus is on uro-oncology. The lead product candidates in this pipeline, MitoGel and VesiGel, are proprietary formulations of the chemotherapy drug Mitomycin C, or MMC. MMC is a generic drug which is currently used off-label for urothelial cancer treatment.

UroGen is developing their product candidates as chemoablation agents, which means they are designed to remove tumors by non-surgical means, to treat several forms of non-muscle invasive urothelial cancer, including low-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma, or UTUC, and low-grade bladder cancer. MitoGel and VesiGel are formulated using proprietary reverse thermally triggered hydrogel, or RTGel, technology. It believes that RTGel-based drug formulations provide for the sustained release of an active drug in various types of urothelial cancer without compromising the safety of the patient or interfering with the natural flow of fluids in the urinary tract. UroGen’s drug formulations are designed to achieve this by increasing the dwell time as well as the tissue coverage throughout the organ with the active drug.

UroGen’s clinical stage pipeline includes Vesimune, its proprietary immunotherapy product candidate for the treatment of high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Vesimune is a novel, liquid formulation of Imiquimod, a generic toll-like receptor 7, or TLR7, agonist.

In addition, BotuGel is a proprietary novel RTGel-based formulation of BOTOX, a branded drug, that UroGen believes can potentially serve as an effective treatment option for patients suffering from overactive bladder. UroGen has licensed the worldwide rights to BotuGel to Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited, or Allergan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allergan plc, which plans to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial of BotuGel.

For more information on UroGen Pharma, please visit their website.