Panion attracts attention from animal health media

Swedish firm Panion plans to use the capital to advance its R&D efforts. Panion is developing a gene therapy for epilepsy in dogs and cats. In 2016, it also set a strategy to potentially extend its pipeline to include acquired and in-licensed assets from human health projects for the development of animal health candidates.

Panion began its first clinical trial in December 2018. The trial for its canine epilepsy gene therapy candidate - CG01 canine - is being carried out at Long Island Veterinary Specialists in New York, with the first dogs expected enrol in the first quarter of 2019.

In August last year, the firm revealed its R&D would benefit from financing secured by compatriot firm CombiGene. CG01 canine is based on CombiGene's CG01 drug which is being developed for humans."

Also in December 2018, the Animal Pharm journalist Joseph Harvey wrote a piece on Panion's development and study start in the US: https://bit.ly/2MHRqDW : " The Swedish company is developing a gene therapy for dogs with epilepsy. The trial is being conducted at Long Island Veterinary Specialists in New York, with the first dogs to be enrolled in the first quarter of 2019.

The pilot will evaluate the efficacy of the treatment in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. This signals the first time the gene therapy is made available for client-owned dogs.

Panion stated: "Depending on the speed of enrollment and other study related factors, we expect to have preliminary results in the end of Q4, 2019."

The firm recently secured positive safety study results of its CG01 candidate. This followed a successful efficacy study earlier in 2018. Panion has engaged with the US FDA, as it prepares its technology for the regulatory process.

The company has a license agreement for dogs and cats with its parent company CombiGene, which is developing a gene therapy approach for the treatment of human epilepsy. In August, Panion's R&D work was boosted after CombiGene received financing."

Panion's CEO, Anja Holm, says "It is great that we attract some attention in the big world, and I think that the potential of our gene therapy product for epileptic dogs is intriguing to experts in the field of animal medicines. We are very pleased that the clinical study is ongoing in the US as planned, and all the processes with training, vector, and recruitment work of patients are rolling in accordance with the time schedules that we had foreseen. We will keep informing the investors whenever we receive news to share."