Bristol-Myers Squibb Licenses Cardiovascular Antisense Target From Isis
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
The latest in a string of deals for Bristol focuses on antisense targets, one of which holds promise for greater LDL cholesterol lowering, firm tells “The Pink Sheet” DAILY.
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Isis Pharmaceuticals could receive nearly $200 million under a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb to jointly develop cardiovascular drugs based on Isis' antisense technology, the companies announced May 9. "The first order of business is to identify a lead drug" that would lower LDL cholesterol by working through the proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) target, Isis VP-Corporate Development Kate Corcoran said. Using its second-generation antisense technology in mice, Isis has identified compounds that interact with the PCSK9 target to increase the level of LDL cholesterol receptors, which in turn can lower LDL in the bloodstream, Corcoran said. Financial terms of the deal call for Bristol to pay Isis $15 million upfront, plus at least $9 million in research funding over three years. Isis is also eligible for an additional $168 million if development and regulatory milestones are achieved for the first drug in the collaboration, as well as the potential for additional milestone payments for other compounds. Isis also would receive royalties on sales of the products resulting from the collaboration, the firms said. A drug based on RNA antisense technology "has the potential to reduce LDL cholesterol quite substantially over and above what is already standard of care ... and we would hope would be a very specific compound which would not have significant side effects," Bristol Senior VP-Exploratory Clinical Research Francis Cuss told "The Pink Sheet" DAILY. Isis' internal pipeline has a lipid-lowering candidate in Phase II, ISIS 301012, which targets apoB-100, a protein central to the synthesis of LDL cholesterol. Isis' business model relies in large part on licensing agreements and development collaborations. The Carlsbad, Calif.-firm has previously brokered antisense drug discovery agreements with Lilly in metabolic disease and inflammatory diseases, as well as oncology, and developed the cytomegalovirus retinitis treatment Vitravene (fomivirsen), which is marketed by Novartis. The firm has also earned milestone payments from patents that Eyetech (since bought by OSI) used to develop, manufacture and commercialize Macugen (pegaptanib) for wet age-related macular degeneration. Isis received more than $77 million from licensing its intellectual property in 2006. The Isis deal is the latest for Bristol as part of an effort to enhance its pipeline, Cuss said. The firm announced a $1 billion strategic partnership with Pfizer to develop the Factor Xa inhibitor apixaban for the prevention of various thromboembolisms on April 26 (1 (Also see "Bristol And Pfizer Team Up To Develop Anticoagulant Apixaban In $1 Billion Deal" - Pink Sheet, 26 Apr, 2007.)). In January, AstraZeneca announced a deal with Bristol worth potentially more than $1 billion to collaborate on Bristol's diabetes candidates, the Phase III DPP-4 inhibitor saxagliptin and the Phase II SGLT-2 inhibitor dapagliflozin (2 (Also see "Bristol Aims To Be First To Market With Novel Diabetes Drug Class" - Pink Sheet, 11 Jan, 2007.)). - Pamela Taulbee ([email protected]) |