SPHS

Sophiris Bio Inc.

A biopharmaceutical company that developed treatments for prostate disease, most notably topsalysin, a genetically engineered protein aimed at enlarged prostates and localized prostate cancer. It began life in 2003 as Protox Therapeutics and was renamed Sophiris Bio in 2012 when it moved its base from Vancouver to San Diego. The drug was designed as a clever "prodrug" that only switches on in the presence of prostate-specific antigen, so it targets prostate tissue directly.