Allergan deal paying off for Peplin

The first fruits of anti-cancer drug developer Peplin Biotech's landmark licensing deal with US pharmaceutical company Allergan have surfaced in the form of a 240 per cent surge in Peplin's first-half revenues.

Initial payments generated by the $AUD42 million November deal with the US skin and eye care company were the primary reason that Peplin's first-half revenues increased to $AUD2.3 million, according to Peplin MD Garry Redlich.

The biomedical research company's loss for the half ended Dec 31 was $265,000, down 75 per cent on the previous corresponding period.

Simultaneously with the release of its first-half results, the Brisbane company announced it had been granted three new patents by the Australian Patent Office relating to its proprietary anti-cancer compounds.

One of the patents protects Peplin's new class of compounds for treating diseases associated with the disruption of the cell-signalling pathway Protein Kinase C (PKC) in patients.

Peplin's director of Research, Dr Jim Aylward, said the patent "closes the loop between the earlier protection of our proprietary anti-cancer compounds and this important pathway."

PKC is intimately involved in health and disease processes in almost all human cells, and the company believes its proprietary drugs regulate the pathway in a unique manner.

The other two new patents widen the scope of Peplin's parent anti-cancer compounds patent.

Allergan's licence relates to the use of one of Peplin's anti-cancer compounds, PEP005, for possible treatment of skin and eye diseases.