Focus On NPS Pharma: Calcium Specialist

Fiscal 1994 was a landmark year for Salt Lake City, Utah-based NPS Pharmaceutical. The 10-year-old company achieved some significant milestones which suggest that its technology base is sound, and equally important, is attractive enough to bring in investment from both public and corporate backers. Last year the company had its first public offering (raising $10.2 million in a tight financial market), completed a clinical trial of its lead product, and received a scheduled milestone payment from one of its industry backers, SmithKline Beecham.

NPS bases its product research and development in two major areas, modulators of a proprietary calcium receptor (thought to be the first ion receptor ever characterized) and modulators of the glutamate receptor-gated calcium channel. The company is concentrated on three indications, hyperparathyrodism (HPT), osteoporosis and central nervous system disorders.

Norcalcin Calcimimetic Last year, NPS completed a Phase I clinical trial of Norcalcin (NPS R-568), an agonist of the proprietary calcium receptor. In 1993, company scientists identified and cloned the receptor in collaboration with scientists from Brigham & Women's Hospital in the USA, and have since determined that it is present on many tissues around the body, including parathyroid gland, kidney, stomach and brain.