Made In Oklahoma: Charlesson LLC

Published: August 21, 2007

•Address: 800 Research Parkway, Suite 360.

•Web address: www.charlessonllc.com.

•Employees: 10.

•Key personnel: Dr. Jian-xing "Jay” Ma, co-founder, president and chief scientist; Mike Moradi, co-founder and chief executive officer; Dr. Yan Feng, founder and vice president.

•Founded: 2005.

•Key service: Outsourced research and development services for the pharmaceutical industry, as well as pharmaceutical drug development that includes therapeutics for age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

•Background: People suffering from what is known as "wet” age-related macular degeneration of the eye have had few treatment options beyond taking a needle in the eye every month. Oklahoma City-based Charlesson is working to change that.

Charlesson is developing treatments that would expand the period between injections or possibly even provide alternatives to that unpleasant treatment option.

"Charlesson is working several drugs,” said Mike Moradi, co-founder and chief executive officer. "One is a sustained-release injectable that would increase the duration between injections by several months.

"The second, and perhaps more exciting candidate from a patient perspective, is an eyedrop. Not only is it revolutionary, it will substantially improve the quality of life for millions of Americans.”

Age-related macular degeneration affects about 8 million Americans age 55 and older, according to a study conducted by the Wilmer Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

Diabetic retinathopy affects about 5.3 million Americans, including 1.6 million who suffer from diabetic macular edema. Sixty percent of Type 2 diabetes patients will develop some form of diabetic retinopathy and 100 percent of Type 1 patients, Moradi said.

"This hits close to home for me, as I have a history of diabetes in my family,” he said.

Charlesson's treatment compounds, developed in the University of Oklahoma laboratories of Dr. Jian-xing "Jay” Ma, must go through the the Food and Drug Administration's three-phase approval process and are about six to nine years away from being commercially available, Moradi said.

"Charlesson's outsourced R and D services are commercially available today, and we are generating significant revenue from the world's leading pharmaceutical companies,” he said.

Charlesson has been operating under the radar for the past three years, using grants from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and the National Institutes of Health to fund its proof-of-concept efforts.

Meanwhile, Moradi and Charlesson will be one of about 20 Oklahoma companies to make a pitch for investor funding at the upcoming Bricktown Capital Conference from Sept. 4 to 6 at the Cox Convention Center.

"We will unveil Charlesson to the world at the Bricktown Capital Conference,” Moradi said.

Charlesson is the fifth company in which Moradi has been involved. Past companies include Adaptive Technologies and SouthWest NanoTechnolgies, both of Norman, NanoSource Technologies of Oklahoma City, and Unidym of Menlo Park, Calif.

Business Writer Jim Stafford

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