Novo Nordisk & Emisphere Announce License Agreement to Develop Oral Formulation of Insulin for $57.5 Million
Emisphere Technologies, Inc. and Novo Nordisk A/S recently announced they have entered into an exclusive development and license agreement to develop and commercialize oral formulations of Novo Nordisk’s insulins, which have the potential of treating diabetes, using Emisphere’s Eligen Technology. This is the second license agreement between the two companies. The first agreement for the development of oral formulations of GLP-1 receptor agonists was signed in June 2008 with a potential drug currently in a Phase I clinical trial.
The insulin agreement includes 57.5 million in potential product development and sales milestone payments to Emisphere, of which $5 million dollars will be payable upon signing, as well as royalties on sales. Further financial details of the agreement were not made public.
“This is an encouraging agreement on a promising technology for oral administration of proteins. We are delighted to continue working with Emisphere and their Eligen Technology. It fits very well with Novo Nordisk’s strategy within diabetes research,” said Peter Kurtzhals, Senior Vice President, Diabetes Research Unit at Novo Nordisk.
This extended partnership with Novo Nordisk is important for Emisphere for several reasons, added Michael V. Novinski, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emisphere. “To date, our collaboration with Novo Nordisk has been very productive, and this agreement has the potential to offer significant new solutions to millions of people with diabetes worldwide. Finally, it also serves to further validate our Eligen Technology.”
Emisphere’s broad-based drug delivery technology platform, known as the Eligen Technology, uses proprietary, synthetic chemical compounds, known as Emisphere delivery agents, sometimes called carriers. Emisphere’s Eligen Technology makes it possible to deliver a therapeutic molecule without altering its chemical form or biological integrity.
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