Resverlogix (Calgary, Alberta), developer of compounds for use with medical devices, has found a partner for its early-stage pharma technology, ReVas, for a large cardiovascular application. The company will work with Medtronic (Minneapolis), to create a drug-eluting (DES) stent, as the med-tech-titan seeks to be the third to enter the DES derby.

The companies said they will begin the work by completing development of the technology. If they agree to move forward with additional product development, Medtronic would make an initial cash payment to RVX, a subsidiary of Resverlogix, followed by milestones and royalties.

All told, RVX could receive up to C$340 million ($291 million).

“It's the largest preclinical deal ever done in Canada,” Don McCaffrey, co-founder and president/CEO of Resverlogix, told Medical Device Daily's sister publication Bioworld Today.

Resverlogix also gets to play a part in the burgeoning drug/device combination market, which already has produced the Taxus paclitaxel-DES from Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) and the Cypher sirolimus-DES from Cordis (Miami Lakes, Florida).

Medtronic's Zotarolimus- (Abbott) DES, Endeavor, is finishing up clinical development for a U.S. application.

The stents all use “a version of either rapamycin or paclitaxel,” McCaffrey said. Since both of those are oncology drugs, “they're a little harsh on the endothelial lining in the artery.”

He added that while those drugs might be effective in preventing restenosis, “at 90 days out, you're seeing some thrombotic issues, some ruptures and, in some cases, death.”

Others, both cardio researchers and analysts, have noted that the ability of DES devices to reduce mortality, long-term, is yet to be shown and that the short-term benefit, thus far, has been their proven ability to reduce the number of stent placement re-dos.

Resverlogix's ReVas program is aimed at designing a drug that “actually encourages the healing of the endothelial lining,” in addition to reducing the smooth-muscle cell proliferation that leads to restenosis, McCaffrey said. “So, it's kind of a new-generation drug for the stent market.”

ReVas emerged when researchers discovered hydrophobic compounds while working on its NexVas cholesterol program. Since those compounds were unable to reach the liver or small intestine, they were useless as cholesterol drugs, but their non-systemic quality made them ideal for drug/device combos.

“Being hydrophobic and staying in the arteries is actually quite an advantage for this type of medication,” McCaffrey said.

To keep its ReVas program separate, Resverlogix established the RVX subsidiary last year. RVX also holds the intellectual property relating to Resverlogix's TGF-Beta Shield technology for cancer and fibrotic diseases.

The company's lead program, NexVas, is expected to move a compound into clinical development within the next six months. That program focuses on creating therapies that increase high density lipoprotein (HDL) for cardiovascular disease.

“That's going to be a much larger market for us,” McCaffrey said. “We believe we have a breakthrough as the first company ever to be able to do transcription of the lipoprotein ApoA-1 gene, which is pretty much the Holy Grail of cholesterol research.”

Resverlogix expects to seek a partner for the NexVas program, as well, and “we are proceeding nicely in some discussions there,” he said.

Resverlogix's stock (TSX: RVX) jumped nearly 20% on news of the agreement with Medtronic, closing at C$6.50 Wednesday, up C$1.07.