Algernon Pharmaceuticals

Overview

Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE:AGN,OTCQB:AGNPF,XFRA:AGW) is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical development company with phase 2 clinical studies being conducted in the disease areas of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic cough and COVID-19. The company’s business model is to advance known, safe and already approved drugs for new disease indications. The company only investigates drugs that have never been approved in the US or Europe.

Typical drug development is an extremely long and financially risky process. Developing a newly discovered drug typically takes five to six years before it can be deemed safe enough for human testing, and most experimental drugs are never approved for human trials. Algernon Pharmaceuticals’ strategy to find new and groundbreaking uses for drugs that have already been proven safe provides an attractive alternative to the typical new drug development model, With this strategy, Algernon can advance a drug into a phase II study quickly and cost-effectively and with reduced risk of failure due to drug safety issues.

While drug repurposing has been attempted before, the key value proposition for Algernon is that it has eliminated the risk of generic competition by screening drugs that have never before been approved in the US or Europe. Once a drug is identified, the company investigates it in a globally accepted animal-testing model to identify if it shows promise to treat a new disease completely unrelated to its original purpose. Algernon then files new intellectual property rights and fast-tracks the drug into a phase II trial in the country where it was originally approved. The next step is to move the drug into a USFDA registration. This strategy has the potential to dramatically reduce the time needed to advance through the early phases of drug development.

Algernon has identified four compounds with significant potential for a successful repurposing program. In repeated animal studies, these four drugs have matched or outperformed leading global treatments for the diseases being studied. Algernon is ready to advance all four of its drugs into phase II clinical trials.

Algernon Pharmaceuticals’ Company Highlights

• In Q3 2020, it reached 75 percent of its enrollment target of 113 patients in a Phase 2b3 human study for Ifenprodil to treat COVID-19
• Enrolled 25 percent of its target patients in its Ifenprodil Phase 2 human study to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic cough
• Has a drug development program based on drug repurposing, which has a much lower risk of fail in human trials as a result of safety issues
• Reduced time and cost to move compounds into a phase II trial due to advancing safe, approved well established small molecules
• Company is advancing compounds that have matched or outperformed leading global treatments in animal studies
• Multi-billion dollar global markets for disease treatments
• Experienced management team and globally recognized medical advisory board
• Capital-efficient business model