In Business for Longevity
Medzym is an early stage, stealth mode, a longevity-biotech entity that is through R&D discovering and developing products for the aging population in the areas of eye diseases such as Glaucoma, Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Cataracts, and Eye-allergy.
This purpose has guided us to become an innovative force in the molecular medicines. The company’s scientific and management credibility is well recognized. Team’s credibility further manifests itself in a twenty-year history of being committed to life-threatening disease research.
Mission
On By discovering, developing and delivering innovative medicines to fight against diseases. We aim to improve human health and increase the quality of longevity.
Value – We aspire to be fully GREEN
Our sole purpose is to end suffering caused by lack of understanding and miss-management of health and diseases. Our mission and goals guide us, and our strategy acts as a blueprint for achieving our goals. The combination is essential to accomplishing our primary purpose of improving patients’ lives. We recognize that important therapeutic products will be the measure and the vehicle of our success. We believe that our values create a competitive advantage that allows us to discover, develop and deliver important products.
We aspire to be a socially responsible and ethically concerned organization.
We are a Green corporation mandated to follow triple-bottom-line reporting.
EYE–the Opportunities Overlooked
The eyes provide the human brain more input than all other sensory organs taken together. While humans can eventually adjust to any severe physical impediments, loss of vision is devastating to anyone. The human eye is a highly complex and immensely sensitive organ, from the easily accessible cornea and external mucous membranes to the retina and the optic nerve, which are protected against external agents—including drugs—by several effective barriers. Infections, diabetes, hypertension, blood vessel proliferation, degenerative disorders, genetic defects, and malfunction of the glands producing the vital tear film, as well as injuries and aging are known to cause visual impairments.
Thus the need for effective medicines to protect the eye’s effective functionality is urgent and offers significant opportunities to biotechnology companies that are focused on eye-related areas.
Medzym has two strategies for the eye projects:
(1) New Innovation, and
(2) Old drugs made new
New Innovation for vision
Medzym is in the process of developing formulations of ocular solutions for eye diseases and their prevention. Medzym’s technology presents the first major leap forward in the treatment and possible prevention of Glaucoma. This drug candidate can be used topically. Preliminary (fast and crude experiments) indicate that the primary component in the formulation is active and well characterized. The formulation is expected to be non-toxic under natural physiological conditions. The primary compound is stable at room temperature for more than one month.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of neurodegenerative diseases of the optic nerve and a leading cause of blindness, affecting more than 70 million people worldwide. The increase in intraocular pressure (IOP) observed in glaucoma is believed to be a result of reduced aqueous humor outflow predominantly through the conventional pathway. Older age, black race, Hispanic origin, corticosteroids, diabetes mellitus, and family history of glaucoma are among the risk factors. Glaucoma is usually asymptomatic until a relatively late stage. Diagnosis is achieved by optic nerve evaluation and functional studies. Current medications slow down the progression of the disease but do not resolve the underlying causes. The patient usually needs to take the medicines lifelong. MZ-1017 removes the underlying cause of glaucoma. Current medications used for glaucoma have issues including the side effects and efficacies.
The use of natural products as a source for drug discovery goes back to the beginning of human drug hunting. Pilocarpine, one of the most important medicines in glaucoma treatment regimen, was extracted from the South American plant Pilocarpus in 1874 and has sold billions of dollars since its commercialization. MZ1017 also has a natural origin with unique therapeutic features distinguishing it from the existing drugs. In glaucoma, an abnormal accumulation of potentially toxic proteins has been found in the subarachnoid space of the optic nerve and the aqueous humor (AH) of the anterior chamber. The protein content measured in the AH of glaucoma versus non-glaucoma patients has demonstrated significant differences. MZ-1017 use in patients results in eye discharge followed by the reversal of the glaucoma symptoms and improved vision. We believe there might be a link between the discharge of potentially toxic proteins and the remarkable effect observed with MZ-1017.
Our medical field studies using a novel formulation of MZ-1017 showed a strong increase in AH outflow resulting in lower IOP, vision regaining, and reduction in inflammation in glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Our findings strongly suggest that MZ-1017 can be a potential drug candidate for glaucoma.
Old Drugs Made New for Eye Diseases
The eyes are among the most readily accessible organs in terms of location in the body, yet drug delivery to eye tissues is particularly problematic. Poor bioavailability of drugs from ocular dosage forms is mainly due to precorneal loss factors. There is a clear need for effective topical formulations capable of promoting drug penetration and maintaining therapeutic levels with a reasonable frequency of application—a strategy that can also result in exacerbation of side effects, which would not be acceptable.
At Medzym we have developed a drug delivery technology based on Nano-Molecular Science (NMS). Delivery of a drug via an NMS-based product may be a good start to fulfill the main objective: enhancement of drug permeation. Our NMS technology provides a unique formulation and an effective solution to the current problems.
The bioavailability of drugs is reduced by two principal factors: instability in the biological environment and limited transport across biological membranes. A carrier that can protect the drug, rapidly pass through epithelia and execute a sustained drug release after administration is an attractive solution to improve drug bioavailability. NMS- systems have both these abilities. For example, Dexamethasone provides relief for inflamed areas of the body. It is used to treat several different conditions, such as inflammation, severe allergies, arthritis, asthma, and other diseases. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid. It works on the immune system to help relieve swelling, redness, itching, and allergic reactions.
Target Market
The main causes of visual impairment and sight loss with aging are retinal diseases, such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema, and macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion. AMD is a condition affecting people over the age of 50 and involves the loss of the person’s central field of vision. It occurs when the macular (or central) retina develops degenerative lesions. It is estimated that 195 million people have some form of AMD globally. Glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness affects an estimated 75 million people worldwide and remains the largest segment of the ophthalmic prescription drugs market.
In 2019, approximately 2.2 billion people globally were visually impaired. In addition, over 39 million had vision loss, nearly 188.5 million people suffered from mild vision impairment, and over 217 million people were experiencing moderate to severe vision impairment (WHO). Glaucoma affects approximately 2.7 million people in the United States and is expected to reach 4 million in 2030. As the proportion of people in the U.S. age 65 and older grows larger, more people are developing age-related diseases such as AMD. From 2000-2010, the number of people with AMD grew 18 percent, from 1.75 million to 2.07 million in the USA, and by 2030, that number is expected to be 3.4 million. (NEI/NIH).
Economics
The global ophthalmic drugs market size is expected to reach USD 45.8 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 5.0%, according to a report published in March 2020 by Grand View Research, Inc. The drug ophthalmology market is dominated by six large companies – Pfizer, Allergan, Alcon, Novartis, Merck Bausch Health, and Roche- that cover approximately 70% of the market.
The Glaucoma market was the largest segment followed by the Wet Age Macular Degeneration (Wet-AMD). The world glaucoma market is expected to grow from $6.27 billion to $10.1 billion in 2026. The North American market for glaucoma was $2.4 in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7% for the next seven years.