Our Mission

To lead the world in discovering, developing & commercializing novel therapeutic compounds acting on the adenosine receptor subtypes in order to save and improve the lives of our patients.

Company History

Adenosine Therapeutics (AT), located in Charlottesville, VA, is a drug discovery and development company that was co-founded in 1999 by University of Virginia (UVa) Professor, Joel Linden and entrepreneur, Robert Capon (one of three cofounders of Virologic, NASDAQ: VLGC.)

Although relatively young as a company, AT represents the fruition of over 40 years of academic research at UVa on the pharmacology and physiology of the endogenous neucleoside, adenosine. UVa's establishment as the academic leader in adenosine research began with the work of Dr. Robert Berne in the 1960s. This led to the patent, clinical development, and successful marketing of the anti-arrhythmic, Adenocard®, a staple in ambulances and paramedic kits.

Building on Dr. Berne's legacy, Professor Linden has taken the reigns as one of science's premier leaders in research on the pharmacology and physiological role of adenosine and its receptor subtypes (A₁, A_2a, A_2b and A₃). Since the establishment of AT in 1999, Dr. Linden's research has resulted in the publication of over 100 scientific papers and development of over thirty patented and patent-pending technologies.

Through an in-license agreement with the University of Virginia Patent Foundation, AT has been granted exclusive, worldwide rights to the University's adenosine-related patent portfolio. Building on the bedrock of adenosine research at UVa and an extensive pipeline of patented products and technology, AT has established a solid platform for attaining its next goal of moving its products forward into clinical development. The company's most advanced compound, ATL-146e, is well into Phase II clinical trials.

Company Accomplishments
Non-clinical Development Accomplishments:
Development of new chemical entities is mission critical to AT. To facilitate these advances, a chemistry laboratory was established and is staffed by a group of talented chemists. Dr. Robert Thompson, an accomplished purine chemist with experience in developing other adenosine-related compounds that are now in clinical development, leads this group. Under Dr. Thompson's leadership AT's Chemistry group has designed and synthesized hundreds of unique compounds with lead compounds identified for five separate programs.

Additional non-clinical development of AT's lead compounds is accomplished via commercial and academic collaborations. At the close of 2003, AT had over two dozen such collaborations and its collaborative efforts with academic investigators have resulted in the generation of over 25 scientific publications and a number of key patents on the pharmacological effects of its products.

Collectively, AT's scientific approach to design and development of clinical therapeutics has lead to the identification of lead and multiple back-up candidates for clinical development in both A_2a agonists and A_2a antagonists programs. Lead product identification is underway in product programs involving development of selective A_2a receptor antagonists and A1 allosteric enhancers.

Clinical Development Accomplishments:
Product out-licensing: AT has out-licensed lead and back-up A2a agonists to Bristol-Meyers Squibb (BMS) for development as coronary vasodilators for use in cardiac stress imaging. The lead A_2a agonist, ATL-146e is now in Phase II clinical development for use in cardiac stress imaging.

In-house Capabilities for Clinical Development:
AT added Dr. Shannon Williams as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Development. Dr. Williams, a cardiovascular pharmacologist by training, has over 22 years of experience in scientific research and pharmaceutical product development, including six years as an FDA reviewer. Through Dr. Williams's efforts, clinical development of products can now be accomplished internally.