New scientific publications highlight the unique profile of Actelion's antimalarial compound

Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd / New scientific publications highlight the unique profile of Actelion's antimalarial compound . Processed and transmitted by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

ALLSCHWIL/BASEL, SWITZERLAND - 17 October 2016 - Actelion Ltd (SIX: ATLN) announced today that a series of recently published scientific articles [1,2,3,4,5]  describing the unique profile of the company's orally-active antimalarial compound, ACT-451840, has reinvigorated interest in the compound. Actelion is in discussions to find a partner with the expertise and resources to bring this promising therapy to patients.

ACT-451840 appears to have a distinct mode of action that sets it apart from current antimalarial drugs, including artemisinins. It has a rapid onset of action as well as activity on all blood-borne (erythrocytic) stages, which is retained against multiple resistant parasites, including artemisinin-resistant strains. Unlike the majority of antimalarial agents, ACT-451840 has the potential to block disease transmission due to its activity on gametocytes.

The discovery and characterization work for ACT-451840 was carried out in close collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). Initial clinical evaluation of ACT-451840 - in collaboration with MMV (Medicines for Malaria Ventures) at the laboratories of Professor James McCarthy, MBBS, MD of the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Herston, Australia - showed good tolerability and confirmed the fast action and gametocidal activity.

The company believes that ACT-451840 could form the basis of novel combinations, which would have the potential to replace artemisinin-based combinations, as first evidence of resistance to artemisinin is appearing.

Martine Clozel, MD and Chief Scientific Officer, commented: "The results we have seen with Actelion's compound against the deadliest form of malaria, even when parasites have developed resistance against the current gold-standard therapies, have impressed many of our academic partners. On the back of the recently published preclinical and clinical data, we are in discussions to find a partner with experience in the development of this indication, in an attempt to help the World Health Organization meet their goal of eradicating malaria by 2030."