Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and UK-based Heptares Therapeutics, a unit of Sosei Group Corporation (TSE Mothers Index: 4565) have announced a licensing and drug-discovery agreement under which Teva will receive exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize novel, small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists discovered by Heptares for the treatment of migraine.
Heptares will receive an upfront payment of $10 million, research funding, and is eligible to receive additional research, development and commercialization milestone payments of up to $400 million. In addition, Heptares will be eligible to receive royalties on net sales of products resulting from the alliance.
“We are delighted to begin this partnership with Heptares, which through its industry-leading, structure-based design approach has generated novel CGRP antagonists with significant promise for treating migraine,” said Teva Chief Scientific Officer Michael Hayden, “CGRP antagonism represents an exciting opportunity to treat migraine. We believe small-molecule CGRP antagonists offer further opportunities that are highly complementary to our promising candidate, TEV-48125, an anti-CGRP antibody.”
“This agreement is an exciting development for our CGRP antagonist program,” added Heptares CEO Malcolm Weir, “Teva brings world-leading clinical and commercial expertise in migraine to advance this program based on differentiated small-molecule CGRP antagonists discovered using our novel structure-based drug design technologies. The commitment Teva is making allows us to expand this promising program.”
Migraine, defined as recurring attacks of moderate to severe headache pain, affects more than 10% of people worldwide. There is no absolute cure for migraine since its pathophysiology has yet to be fully understood.
Teva acquired TEV-48125 when it acquired Labrys Biologics, Inc. in 2014, and analysts estimate that it could become a blockbuster drug when it reaches the market.
Sosei bought Heptares in a deal worth up to $400 million, in February this year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 25, 2015
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