12 February 2019 - - US-based pharmaceutical company Verseon presented two lead candidates from its new class of precision oral anticoagulants (PROACs) at last week's International Stroke Conference in Honolulu, HI, the company said.

The new drug candidates, products of Verseon's computationally driven drug discovery platform, could become the first anticoagulants suitable for long-term co-administration with antiplatelet drugs for patients with coronary artery disease.

Millions of patients worldwide could benefit from safe, long-term therapy combining an oral anticoagulant with one or more antiplatelet drugs (i.e. aspirin, Plavix) to prevent stroke or heart attack.

With current anticoagulants, however, such combination treatment is generally limited to 12 months because of an increased risk of major bleeding.

Verseon said its PROACs have demonstrated low bleeding and sparing of platelet function in preclinical testing, making them promising candidate for this large group of patients.

In contrast to conventional pharma companies that typically rely on a single compound per drug program, Verseon's drug development platform allows them to systematically generate multiple chemically distinct drug candidates for each disease area.

As a result, the company is currently conducting a phase 1 trial on the lead PROAC VE-1902 and expects to also advance a second PROAC, VE-2851, into clinical trials.

Verseon's computational platform is built on advanced physics-based modeling, novel optimization algorithms, and a proprietary chemistry knowledge base.

These computational engines are integrated into highly efficient, purpose-built chemistry and biology laboratory workflows. This unique approach distinguishes Verseon from traditional modes of pharmaceutical development and allows them to identify on the computer novel small molecules that bind to the disease-causing target protein.

In this way, the company synthesizes only the most promising compounds for laboratory evaluation and clinical trials.

Verseon's PRrecision Oral AntiCoagulants (PROACs) have shown excellent efficacy in multiple preclinical studies without disruption of platelet function. This unique feature could explain the low bleeding of the PROACs observed in preclinical testing, making PROACs excellent candidates for use in long-term combination anticoagulant-antiplatelet therapy.

Lead PROAC VE-1902, which is currently in a phase I clinical trial, was well-tolerated in regulatory toxicity studies and demonstrated low renal clearance, a desirable property for patients with impaired kidney function. Verseon is also advancing a second PROAC, VE-2851, for clinical trials.

Verseon Corp. (AIM: VSN) is developing life-science technology. The clinical-stage company is using its proprietary, computational drug discovery platform paired with a comprehensive in-house chemistry and biology workflow to build a growing drug development pipeline.

The company is applying its platform to a growing drug pipeline and currently has four active drug programs in the areas of anticoagulation, diabetic macular edema, hereditary angioedema, and oncology.