Syntopix

A CIPA case study

Leeds University spin-out firm Syntopix is trialling anti-acne gels in bid for a share of $2 billion market.

Long-term courses of antibiotics as a treatment for acne may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to specialist spin-out drug development business from Leeds University.

Syntopix, founded in 2003 by husband-and-wife team Dr Anne Eady and Dr Jonathan Cove, has begun human use trials in the UK and Germany. The company intends to gain a share of the worldwide market for acne treatments which, according to IMS figures published in 2005, is worth $2 billion and is growing at eight per cent each year. To reduce the likelihood of competitors mimicking Syntopix’ products, achieving patent protection for the new agents is key.

The increase in hospital-acquired infections is also providing a growing market for Syntopix’ other disease target, Staphylococcus aureus skin infections, including those due to MRSA.

The ingredients in the new Syntopix products include what is known as ‘synergistic pairs’, where combining two compounds can increase the antibacterial effect of one of them. Laboratory tests suggest that the combination will be particularly effective in eliminating the bacteria associated with acne.

Syntopix’ drug development strategy focuses on ‘reprofiling’. This involves taking compounds that have already been approved for use on humans (for example, they may already be in use in pharmaceutical products or as food additives) and exploring in the laboratory how such compounds may have beneficial effects in treating bacterial skin infections.

Alternative to long-term antibiotic use

The idea for the new range of antibacterial skincare products came when Anne and Jon were both working in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Leeds University. They realised that doctors were being subjected to pressure to cut down their prescribing of antibiotics, as over-prescription is known to lead to resistant strains of bacteria. However, as existing alternatives to antibiotics for acne and skin infections were either of limited efficacy or had unwanted side-effects, clinicians were continuing to prescribe long courses of oral antibiotics, sometimes lasting for several months. The couple decided to find an effective alternative to antibiotics as rapidly as possible by seeking out compounds that were already approved for use on humans and which showed promise in treating bacteria on the skin.

Their timing couldn’t have been better: Leeds University had just set up a partnership with Techtran, a specialist technology transfer company, in a bid to achieve commercial success for technology being developed in the university’s laboratories. Jonathan Cove wrote and presented a business plan the company was successful in getting initial funding of almost half a million pounds from Catalyst Biomedica.

The quest for good IP advice

With their start-up funding in place, along with a promising business plan and the necessary biomedical know-how, their next priority was to ensure that their intellectual property (IP) was sound and adequately protected from possible imitators. Their shortlist of suitable patent attorneys included the firm they were to select, Greaves Brewster LLP, a firm associated with Bradford University’s most successful spin-out business, Bradford Particle Design.

It proved to be a good choice. As a chemistry graduate, Andrea Brewster provided more than knowledge of how to get a patent, and helped the Syntopix team use international patent records as part of their R&D.

“Before we first set the company up,” explains Anne Eady, “most of our academic research had been fundamental and we were not looking for patentable inventions. At Syntopix, almost all our research is applied, so robust IP protection is crucial. Our first patent was filed within 12 months of taking on our first employees and we now have a rapidly growing patent portfolio.  Greaves Brewster LLP also helped us to register Syntopix as a trade mark, making it harder for anyone else to use that brand name without our permission.

“Andrea Brewster’s main input in our first year was to make us ‘patent savvy’ – to understand the basics of patent protection, to recognise what was patentable amongst our growing mountain of new data, to become familiar with the existing patent literature and ways of searching it for relevant prior art, and to reconfigure our thinking from logical to lateral!.  She also taught us how important it is for everyone in the company to engage in ideas generation and to be familiar with the basics of patent law.”

Patents attract funding

With its growing portfolio of patents, Syntopix was able to attract further funding, both from specialist investment funds and, in March 2006, by a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market which raised almost £4 million. Greaves Brewster LLP assisted by reviewing the Syntopix IP portfolio for the flotation prospectus. Syntopix has filed 25 patent applications so far, of which 15 are ‘live’. Their policy is to file an initial application in the UK then, after 12 months, to apply for international protection under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

According to Andrea Brewster, her firm’s close working relationship with the research team at Syntopix has been an important factor in achieving sound international IP protection. “One of the key strengths of the Syntopix/patent attorney relationship has been the company’s enthusiasm for IP matters, and the way that they’ve made me and my colleagues feel very much part of the corporate team, she explains. “They involve us in regular IP review meetings and keep us informed of general business plans and priorities.  This leads to a more commercially valuable service and helps show that patent attorneys are professionals with much to contribute to, the commercial context of their work.”

Syntopix has now moved out of its former home in Leeds University and into the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation, a new incubator for commercial research and development based at Bradford University. The company has eight directors and ten employees working in five laboratories at the IPI. As products reach the stage where larger quantities are needed for clinical trials, formulation is contracted out to specialist companies in Germany and the USA.

The founders are still heavily involved in the business, although both have other interests. Dr Anne Eady, a bacteriologist and Scientific Director, describes herself as the ‘ideas’ person and is the team member with the most in depth knowledge of acne pathogenesis and clinical trial methodology. Her husband Dr Jon Cove, also a bacteriologist and Research Director, is on secondment to Syntopix from the University of Leeds, where he is a senior lecturer in the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology.  His role at Syntopix is that of leading the research team.

For more information, contact:

Peter Prowse, CIPA : 01372 271234

Jon Cove, Syntopix: 0845 1 259204

Anne Eady, Syntopix:  0845 1 259204

Andrea Brewster, Greaves Brewster LLP: 01934 745880