Licensing deal
ImmuPharma plc signed an agreement giving the US pharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc an option to obtain an exclusive, worldwide licence to Lupuzor for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.
Cephalon is paying ImmuPharma $15 million upfront. In addition, if current Phase IIb studies are successful ImmuPharma will receive a licence fee, and clinical and sales milestone payments, which may amount to $500 million. In addition, the company will be entitled to royalties on sales of the drug.
If it exercises the option, Cephalon will bear all costs for Phase III studies and subsequent commercialisation of the product.
ImmuPharma is headquartered in London and has an exclusive relationship with France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), which will be entitled to a share of the sales royalties.
“[The deal] represents an important landmark for the company and secures the future for our most advanced asset,” said Dimitri Dimitriou, CEO of ImmuPharma.
Lupuzor is a first-in-class immune modulating treatment that works via a specific subset of CD4 T cells, which play a critical role in the physiopathology of lupus. In Phase IIa 50 percent of patients showed a 50 percent improvement in symptoms and over 80 percent of subjects responded in the month-long trial.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease causing various effects throughout different parts of the body. Its severity can range from very mild to extremely serious depending on which body organs are afflicted.
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