PHARMA AB – CEO Dorte X. Gram increases share holding

Malmö, Sweden, February 25, 2021

Download the press release as PDF here

PILA PHARMA AB (publ) announces that CEO Dorte X. Gram on Monday and Tuesday, February 21 and 22, bought 18,878 shares in the company. The shares were purchased at an average price of SEK 5.39. The transaction took place through the company Gram Equity Invest, which she owns together with her son Gustav Hanghøj Gram.

Dorte X. Gram is the main owner of PILA PHARMA and after Monday’s and Tuesday’s acquisitions, she owns a total of 5,050,458 shares via companies, which corresponds to just over 31 percent of votes and capital.

”I increased my holding in November and now continue to buy shares in PILA PHARMA because at the current price of PILA PHARMA’s share, I can not see any better investment than this, despite the uncertain situation on the stock exchange in general. I am convinced that we at PILA PHARMA have a very good drug candidate for type 2 diabetes and our development from startup to an international company is going according to the plan we have communicated to the stock market”, says Dorte X. Gram

For more information: 

Dorte X. Gram, CEO
M: +46 (0)73 903 6969
E: dxg@pilapharma.com

About PILA PHARMA (Publ)

PILA PHARMA is a Swedish biotech company in the diabetes segment based in Malmö. The aim of the company is to develop a novel and superior tablet based treatment for type 2 diabetes. The company owns both use patents for treating diabetes and obesity with TRPV1 antagonists, and the intellectual property rights for the mid stage clinical development candidate XEN-D0501. The company is listed at Nasdaq First North GM in Stockholm in July 2021 to finance the further development of XEN-D0501. Currently, new API for further 3 months preclinical safety studies is being manufactured to permit the company to progress XEN-D0501 to a pivotal 3 month phase 2b trial in patients with diabetes, scheduled to start in first part of 2023.

About XEN-D0501 and TRPV1 antagonists

XEN-D0501 is a highly selective and very potent small molecule TRPV1 antagonist, previously in development by Bayer Healthcare and Xention/Ario Pharma. The TRPV1 target (also called the “chili-receptor”) has demonstrated applications across pain and inflammatory diseases and potentially plays a role in diabetes as well. XEN-D0501 was acquired by PILA PHARMA in March 2016, due to its very good safety and tolerability profile as compared to other clinical TRPV1-antagonist development candidates. TRPV1 antagonists as a drug-class has previously been associated with severe adverse events as fever (hyperthermia) but this has not been the case for XEN-D0501 in 8 clinical trials conducted so far. The maximal tolerable dose in non-diabetic individuals has previously been determined to be 4 milligrams twice daily, a dose level with good safety but no effect in non-diabetic patients with either overactive bladder disease or chronic cough. In November 2018, PILA PHARMA reported the completion of its first clinical trial (PP-CT01), demonstrating a good safety profile of XEN-D0501 at single doses up to 8 milligrams when administered to people with type 2 diabetes. The most recent study results were announced in September 2020. The study (PP-CT02) demonstrated that multiple doses of XEN-D0501 (4 milligrams twice daily for 28 days) were likewise well-tolerated by people with type 2 diabetes and also – with statistical significance versus placebo – that XEN-D0501 enhances the endogenous insulin response to oral glucose, thus demonstrating proof of principle.

About diabetes

Diabetes is a world-wide pandemic with a staggering prevalence of 537 million diabetics corresponding to approximately 8-10% of the population. Approximately 90 % of all diabetics suffer from type 2 diabetes, whilst approximately 10% suffers from type 1 diabetes. The disease can lead to cardiovascular disease resulting in reduction of quality of life for the patient, increased risk of death and high health care expenses. Despite recent therapeutic advances, large and growing unmet needs exist both from an efficacy, safety, accessibility and affordability perspective.