LA BioMed: Bringing medical discoveries into the marketplace

The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) is at the forefront of public-private partnerships in order to bring medical discoveries into the marketplace.

KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. is one of several companies founded based on technology licensed from LA BioMed. KYTHERA, which recently filed its registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock, develops prescription products for the aesthetic medicine market, including ATX-101, a potential first-in-class injectable drug candidate being studied for the reduction of submental fat, which leads to the appearance of a so-called "double chin."

"LA BioMed is proud to have a distinguished group of scientists conducting research in many areas that is leading to new therapies and treatments that can benefit thousands of people," said David Meyer, Ph.D., president and CEO of LA BioMed. "From aesthetic properties such as ATX-101, to vaccines for hospital-acquired infections, to sickle cell therapies, our talented researchers are uncovering medical breakthroughs that continue to positively affect individuals in our local communities and around the world."

Michael Kolodney, M.D., Ph.D., lead investigator at LA BioMed and long-time Research Advisor to KYTHERA, is co-inventor of ATX-101. In 2004, he and his colleagues at LA BioMed originally published findings from laboratory observations of fat dissolution using sodium deoxycholate, an endogenous compound that is present in the body to promote the natural breakdown of dietary fat. These findings culminated in the licensing and development of ATX-101 by KYTHERA, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel prescription products for the aesthetic market.

KYTHERA's collaborator, Bayer, has completed pivotal European Phase III trials, and KYTHERA is currently conducting Phase III clinical development in the United States. Phase III clinical trials are large, randomized studies conducted at multiple sites to determine the safety and efficacy of a potential treatment, and are usually the last clinical trials conducted before approval from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is obtained and the treatment can be made widely available to the patient population. Currently, there are no FDA-approved pharmacologic therapies for reducing submental fat. As a result, liposuction and surgical neck lifts remain the primary options for patients. KYTHERA and Bayer are developing ATX-101 to address this unmet need.

The relationship of KYTHERA as a small business entity to LA BioMed as an academic research institution is an important one, in that it gives inventors the opportunity to license their technology and bring it from the laboratory into the marketplace in the shortest possible amount of time. The rapid pace with which LA BioMed's physician-researchers are able to take their medical discoveries in the laboratory and apply such discoveries to patients' bedsides has become a staple at the Institution.

Provided by Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor