Karolinska Development to put SEK10M into joint venture with Biovitrum

Collaboration

Swedish biotech Biovitrum AB and Karolinska Development are to establish a joint venture company in which Biovitrum will vest all rights to develop, market and sell its FLT3 leukemia treatment.

Karolinska Development will finance the project up to a defined decision point with a maximum of SEK10 million (€919,000), after which the company will decide upon subsequent management of the assets. The new entity will be 80.1 per cent owned by Karolinska Development, the investment arm of the Karolinska Institute. According to the agreement, Biovitrum will receive future royalties on sales of any products based on the FLT3 project.

"The agreement means that our interesting [small molecule] project within leukemia can be further developed while Biovitrum can pursue its strategy [of focusing on] biopharmaceuticals,” said Martin Nicklasson, CEO of Biovitrum.

“I am convinced that Karolinska Development will create the best [prospects] for the development of this project, all the way to a new cancer drug for patients with high unmet medical needs.”

"Karolinska Development has proved to be very innovative and successful in developing this [type] of early project", said Conny Bogentoft, CEO of Karolinska Development. “In addition, it is fortunate that this Swedish pharmaceutical invention can be further developed on home ground. The bringing of this agreement to a successful close [gives us] credibility in the surrounding world", Bogentoft added.

FLT3, currently in preclinical phase, is a tyrosine kinase that is important for the normal development of blood cells and the immune system. About one quarter of patients with the most common form of leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), have altered, spontaneously active FLT3, a marker that is associated with a reduced survival prognosis. FLT3 is therefore considered a promising drug target.

Biovitrum has developed and patented low molecular weight compounds that effectively and specifically inhibit the activity of FLT3.