Voclosporin

Voclosporin is an experimental immunosuppressant drug being developed by Isotechnika and Lux Biosciences. It is being studied for use in solid organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis. It is an analog of ciclosporin that has enhanced action against calcineurin and greater metabolic stability. Voclosporin was discovered by Dr. Robert T. Foster and his team at Isotechnika in the mid 1990's (US patent 6,605,593). Isotechnika was founded in 1993. Initially, voclosporin was a mixture of equal proporations of cis and trans geometric isomers of amino acid-1 modified cyclosporine A. Later, in collaboration with Roche, Basle, Switzerland, voclosporin's manufacturing was changed to yield the predominantly trans geometric isomer. The trans isomer possesses most of the beneficial effect of the drug (immunosuppression) in the treatment of organ transplantation and autoimmune disease(s).