PharmaTelevision - QRX Pharma: Finding ‘the holy grail of opioid pharmacology’

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Video title: QRX Pharma: Finding ‘the holy grail of opioid pharmacology’

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In this episode of PharmaTelevision News Review, Fintan Walton talks to Dr John W Holaday, Managing Director and CEO at QRX Pharma Ltd.

Full video transcripts are available with PharmaTelevision Premium Content. Click here to buy a subscription or sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Origins and growth of QRxPharma

Fintan Walton:

Hello and welcome to PharmaTelevision News Review here at AusBiotech in Melbourne, in Australia. On this show I have got John Holaday , who is CEO and Managing Director of a company called QRxPharma based in Queensland, welcome to the show.

John Holaday:

Thank you very much, good to be here.

Fintan Walton:

John Holaday , your company focuses in the area of pain, tell us the story about QRx how was founded and when you got involved?

John Holaday:

Actually the story of QRx from the point of view of the pain product goes back over 200 years when Morphine was first isolated and purified from the opium poppy and since then chemist have looked for a better form of Morphine for treating moderate to severe pain and all the chemicals that they have invented the fentanyls, the oxycodone et cetera, in clinical practice showed the same side effects which severely limit the utility of these drugs for treating moderate to severe painnausea and vomiting, constipation, drowsiness, sedation, euphoria, respiratory depression et cetera. So what we have done is to show that the combination of Morphine and oxycodone when given together they violate each other's side effect profiles let the pain relief come through, so it's a way of getting pain relief without the side effect in many ways the holy grail of opioid pharmacology and this was recognized in Queensland at the University of Queensland by Professor Maree Smith, did the early research with the rats and the white goats and showed synergy and pain relief with fewer side effects and then that was slowly built from a private founding and early venture money here in Australia into a company that we took public in May of '08, excuse me May of '07 time flies and in that process build up some really value with the number of clinical trials showing that in people as in rats and mice you get better pain relief with a 50 to 75% reduction in side effects.

Fintan Walton:

And now let's go back when did you actually joined the company?

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Fintan Walton

Dr Fintan Walton is the Founder and CEO of PharmaVentures . After completing his doctoral research on the genetics of cell proliferation at the University of Michigan(US)and Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), Dr Walton gained broad commercial experience in biotechnology in management positions at Bass and Celltech plc (1982-1992).

John W Holaday

Chief Executive Officer

John W Holaday joined QRxPharma in 2007 as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, and is also President of QRxPharma's US operations. Dr. Holaday brings 39 years of experience as a scientist, executive manager of biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies, and as a banker. Dr. John W Holaday has extensive experience building specialty pharmaceutical companies. A veteran life-science entrepreneur, Dr. Holaday has built five biopharmaceutical companies over the past 19 years, raising more than $400M in public and private financing. Dr. Holaday founded EntreMed, (ENMD, NASDAQ) in 1992 and served as its Chairman, President and CEO until his retirement in 2003 and was the co-founder, director, Scientific Director and SVP of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation (MRX, NYSE). He also founded MaxCyte Inc., co-founded HarVest Bank of Maryland, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Qbit, CytImmune Sciences and Accelovance. From 1968 to 1989, Dr. John W Holaday served as a Captain in the US Army and subsequently as a senior civilian employee at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where he founded the Neuropharmacology Branch in 1980. Dr. John W Holaday currently serves as an officer and Fellow in several biomedical societies and has authored and edited over 200 scientific articles in journals and books. He holds over 30 patents. He served as Chairman of the Maryland BioAlliance, is a Judge for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2003 to present) and was named to the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame in 2006. Dr. Holaday is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine and Senior Lecturer in Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. John W Holaday obtained his Doctorate in Pharmacology at the University of California San Francisco in 1977.

PharmaVentures

PharmaVentures is a corporate finance and transactions advisory firm that has served hundreds of clients worldwide in relation to their strategic deal making in the pharmaceutical, life science and healthcare sectors. Our key offerings include: Transactions / deal negotiations; Product / technology valuations; Deal term advice; Due diligence & expert reports; Strategy formulation; Alliance management; and Expert opinion for litigation/arbitration cases. PharmaVentures provides the global expertise to ensure our clients generate the highest possible return on investment from all their deal making activities. We have experience of all therapeutic areas and can offer advice on both product and technology commercialisation.

QRxPharma Ltd

QRxPharma Ltd (ASX: QRX) is a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new treatments for pain management and central nervous system disorders(CNS). On May 25, 2007, QRxPharma completed an underwritten initial public offering under the symbol "QRX" on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). QRxPharma's strategy is to commercialize late-stage development products obtained through sponsored research and in-licensing of clinical-stage compounds. The Company's Dual-Opioid products target moderate to severe pain, a US$12 billion global opioid prescription market. The goal is to provide greater patient tolerability and a broader selection of analgesic options to pain specialists. QRxPharma remains open and committed to finding the best possible business relationships to expand its US and overseas markets, accelerate revenues, and maximize the value of its product portfolio while providing significant financial return to its shareholders. QRxPharma will initially focus its commercialization efforts in North America and seeks strategic partners for Europe and Asia.