University Awarded Patent for Osteoporosis Treatment

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Robyn Goforth and Lindsay Rutherford of BiologicsMD prepare gels for analysis of PTH-CBD, which the company is developing to treat osteoporosis and other bone-related disorders.

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a full patent for a treatment for osteoporosis and other bone-related maladies that was developed in part through research at the University of Arkansas.

Joshua Sakon, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the U of A, is one of three co-inventors of the pharmaceutical molecule now known as PTH-CBD. The patent, titled “Fusion Proteins of Collagen Binding-Domain and Parathyroid Hormone,” was issued to University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees, the Oschner Clinic Foundation and the National University Corporation Kagawa University in Japan.

BiologicsMD, a drug discovery firm at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, holds the exclusive license to PTH-CBD and is developing the molecule as a novel and unique treatment for osteoporosis and other bone-related disorders.

“This is the first U.S. patent to issue from a patent family related to PTH-CBD and its use in treating diseases of the bone and other collagen-related disorders," said J. David Owens, chief executive officer of BiologicsMD. “Because of PTH-CBD’s unique profile of selective targeting and other pharmacologic properties, we foresee a highly differentiated new product to help treat human disease.”

BiologicsMD is a portfolio company of VIC Technology Venture Development, a client of the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation, which operates the research park in Fayetteville. BiologicsMD was founded in 2010 and has been awarded a $2.3 million research contract from the U.S. Department of Defense.