Momenta files IND for novel anticoagulant M118

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, a US biotechnology firm specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, says that it has submitted an electronic Investigational New Drug application to the Food and Drug Administration to begin a Phase I clinical study of M118, its lead novel development candidate. M118 is an anticoagulant designed specifically to treat acute coronary syndromes.

Momenta developed M118 using its proprietary technology for the detailed analysis and design of complex sugar therapeutics. By isolating, characterizing and engineering the key sugar structures within heparin that contribute to anticoagulation, it designed a proprietary compound that it believes could provide baseline anticoagulant therapy to treat ACS patients who require a coronary intervention, as well as those who are medically managed, or do not require intervention in order to treat their coronary attack. M118 is designed to be a reversible and monitorable anticoagulant that has a pharmacokinetic profile similar to a low molecular weight heparin. Thus, it is designed to be a therapeutic option that can be used across a variety of ACS treatment paths, the company explains.