Turing Pharmaceuticals

Turing Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company with two marketed products - daraprim (pyrimethamine), for the treatment of toxoplasmosis, and Vecamyl (mecamylamine hydrochloride) for the treatment of hypertension. The company was widely criticized for raising the price of daraprim by over 5000% following its acquisition of rights to the drug in 2015.^[1] The company was named after the British pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing.^[2]

Background

Turing Pharmaceuticals was launched in February 2015 by Martin Shkreli with the acquisition of three major assets from an orphan drug developer called Retrophin: an intranasal formulation of ketamine, an oxytocin nasal solution, and Vecamyl.^[3] The company acquired the US marketing rights to Daraprim from Impax Laboratories in August 2015.^[4]

In September 2015, Turing raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a tablet. This increase prompted widespread criticism of the company from many quarters, including the pharmaceutical industry itself.^[5]

After Shkreli's arrest, on charges that he defrauded investors in his former hedge fund, he resigned as Turing Pharmaceuticals' CEO on 18 December 2015.^[6]

Daraprim

Daraprim is the trade name for the drug Pyrimethamine, which is indicated for the treatment of toxoplasmosis in combination with a sulfonamide, and has been available since 1953.^[7] At the time of the Daraprim acquisition Turing Pharmaceuticals indicated that it intended to develop new toxoplasmosis drug candidates with better ADME than Daraprim.

In response to criticisms of the September 2015 price increases, Turing Pharmaceuticals announced various patient affordability and access initiatives^[8] and in November 2015 the company reduced the cost of Daraprim for hospitals by up to 50% of the increased rate.^[9] Despite these partial rollbacks to the initial price increase, according to February 2, 2016 memo from Representative Elijah Cummings to the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, since Turing's acquisition to the rights in Daraprim, the drug has gone from being affordable and readily available to being prohibitively expensive.^[10]

Vecamyl

Vecamyl is currently indicated for the treatment of hypertension. Turing Pharmaceuticals is working on new indications for Vecamyl.

Pipeline

Syntocinon

This product, also called TUR-001, is Turing Pharmaceuticals' oxytocin nasal solution. Syntocinon, short for 'synthetic oxytocin', was first introduced by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz in 1956. The product had gained FDA approval in 1960 to assist in initial postpartum milk ejection, but was discontinued by Sandoz's successor company, Novartis, in 1997 because of poor sales. Retrophin had licensed the product from Novartis in December 2013 in order to bring it back to the market for postpartum milk ejection as well as look into its use in the treatment of schizophrenia and autism.^[11] Turing Pharmaceuticals is preparing for a Phase III in lactation and other indications are planned.

TUR-002

This product is Turing Pharmaceuticals' intranasal formulation of ketamine. The company is working on the product for the treatment of suicidality.

TUR-004

This product is under development for the treatment of seizures associated with severe epilepsy disorders. Turing Pharmaceuticals made an IND filing for TUR-004 in October 2015^[12] and the product was granted Fast Track designation by the FDA. A Phase I Clinical Trial of TUR 004 for epileptic encephalopathies commenced in November 2015.^[13]

Other products in development

Turing Pharmaceuticals is also working on TRP-001 for glycogen storage disorders, TRP-002 for developmental disorder, TRP-003 for leukodystrophy, TRP-004 for toxoplasmosis, TRP-005 for epileptic encephalopathy, and TRP-011 for congenital metabolic disorder.

Locations

Turing Pharmaceuticals' corporate headquarters are located in Zug, Switzerland; however, the company has offices at 1177 Avenue of the Americas in New York City.

References