OctoPlus in-licenses diabetes product candidate

28-Sep-2007

OctoPlus N.V. announced that it has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise a family of compounds, including a GLP-1 agonist product candidate for the treatment of type 2 diabetes from Canadian biopharmaceutical company Theratechnologies. The product candidate has been selected by OctoPlus for development into a long-acting controlled release formulation that may substantially reduce the required dosing frequency in diabetes therapy, compared to current products on the market or in development, and with a potentially better tolerability profile. OctoPlus has initiated pre-clinical development of this product.

Diabetes is a worldwide health issue: the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 180 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes and projects that the number of deaths caused by diabetes will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years if urgent action is not taken. Recent market reports estimate that global sales of anti-diabetics will exceed US$ 22 billion in 2011.

GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) is a metabolic hormone that plays a central role in glucose handling. Various drug development efforts are directed towards its potential therapeutic benefit in diabetes treatment, and the only currently available GLP-1 based therapy requires twice-daily injections. Last year, GLP-1 based therapy generated US$ 430 million in revenues and this number is expected to grow significantly.

Under the terms of the license agreement, OctoPlus will pay Theratechnologies milestone payments and royalties during the development and commercialisation of the product. The majority of these milestone payments are related to the successful completion of various clinical phases and the achievement of preset sales levels, and could amount to up to EUR 36 million.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/70808/octoplus-in-licenses-diabetes-product-candidate.html