Teva Enters $376-Million Deal for Xenon's Pain Drug
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced they have entered into a collaborative development and exclusive worldwide license for XEN402, which is currently in clinical development for a variety of painful disorders. This product specifically targets sodium channels that are abundantly found in sensory nerve endings that can increase in chronic painful conditions.
Under the Agreement, Teva will pay Xenon an up-front fee of $41 million. In addition, Teva will pay development, regulatory, and sales-based milestones totaling up to $335 million. Xenon is entitled to royalties payable on sales and an option to participate in commercialization in the US.
“Teva is building a focused pipeline of novel medicines in select areas of medical need,” said Dr. Jeremy Levin, President and CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. “XEN402 fits this strategy. It holds the potential to address the significant unmet medical need for the many patients who suffer from chronic pain. In addition, XEN402 has the potential for broader therapeutic use across other pain conditions.”
“We are delighted to be collaborating with Teva,” added Simon Pimstone, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Xenon. “Teva is among the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and is building a significant global presence in innovative drug development and commercialization. This partnership with Teva is Xenon’s seventh major pharmaceutical alliance, once again highlighting the value of Xenon’s unique genetics approach and translational R&D capabilities.”
XEN402 treats pain locally at its source through blocking of Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 sodium channels. XEN402 has been studied in human subjects as both oral and topical forms. In a published study, oral XEN402 was shown to be effective at relieving the pain associated with the rare neuropathic pain condition, erythromelalgia. Topical XEN402 was studied in a Phase II trial to evaluate for effectiveness in alleviating the pain of post herpetic neuralgia. In this study, the proportion of patients reporting clinically meaningful reductions in pain was significantly greater for topical XEN402 than for placebo (p = 0.049 for > 30% response and p = 0.0078 for > 50% response).
Teva is a leading global pharmaceutical company, committed to increasing access to high-quality healthcare by developing, producing, and marketing affordable generic drugs as well as specialty pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. For more information, visit www.tevapharm.com.
Xenon is a privately owned, clinical genetics-based drug discovery and development company engaged in developing novel therapies based on the genetic causes of select metabolic, neurological and cardiovascular diseases. For more information, visit www.xenon-pharma.com.
Total Page Views: 1674
