Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) today announced an agreement to develop and commercialize pain drug fasinumab. This is Regeneron’s investigational NGF antibody in Phase III clinical development for osteoarthritis pain and in Phase II development for chronic low back pain. Under the terms of the agreement, Teva will pay Regeneron $250 million upfront and share equally in the global commercial value (excluding Japan, Korea and other Asian countries covered by a previous collaboration), as well as ongoing R&D costs of about $1 billion.
Teva Global Specialty Medicines president and CEO Rob Koremans said,“This is a significant transaction for Teva, and we look forward to our collaboration with Regeneron, a leader in the research and development of innovative biologics, which aligns with our overall corporate strategy. With our commercial footprint, we will be able to widely educate healthcare providers about this new treatment option when it becomes available."
“The development of novel pain medicines, such as fasinumab, can be one important step in combating the growing opioid epidemic,” said George D. Yancopoulos CSO, Regeneron and president, Regeneron Laboratories. “Fasinumab represents the culmination of more than 25 years of Regeneron scientific work in neurotrophic factors. We look forward to working with Teva, a leading global pharmaceutical company with an expertise in pain therapeutics, to advance this program for patients in need.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron is eligible to receive development and regulatory milestones payments and additional payments based on net sales. Regeneron will lead global development and US commercialization. The companies will share US commercialization efforts by utilizing sales teams and marketing expertise from both companies, and split profit equally in the US In countries outside the US, with the exception of those covered by a previously announced collaboration agreement between Regeneron and Mitsubishi, Teva will be responsible for development and commercialization and pay Regeneron a purchase price, which allows both companies to retain approximately equal shares of fasinumab’s global1 commercial value over time.
“Fasinumab has shown proof of concept in early clinical trials, and represents an exciting, novel target for pain relief. Adding the promise of fasinumab to our developing pipeline of pain products also provides a strong, strategic cornerstone to our pain franchise at Teva. It has the potential to provide a treatment option without the concerns of abuse, addiction and misuse of opioids. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 30 million people suffer pain from osteoarthritis and the same number with chronic low back pain,” said Teva Global R&D president and CSO Michael Hayden.
Fasinumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets NGF, a protein that plays a central role in the regulation of pain signaling. There is evidence that NGF levels are elevated in patients with chronic pain conditions.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 20, 2016
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