Ligand Pharmaceuticals Forms Drug Development Alliance With Chiva Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced it has entered into a strategic relationship with Chiva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop multiple Ligand assets and technology in China and potentially worldwide. Chiva is being granted licenses to begin immediate development in China of Ligand’s two clinical-stage HepDirect programs, Pradefovir for hepatitis B and MB01733 for hepatocellular carcinoma. Additionally, Ligand is granting Chiva a non-exclusive HepDirect technology license for the discovery, development, and worldwide commercialization of new compounds in hepatitis B (HepB), hepatitis C (HepC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Chiva is developing these programs to address the high unmet medical need in China‘s fast growing pharmaceutical market. The Chinese government is offering financial support to pharmaceutical companies like Chiva who can develop innovative therapies in China for public health needs, such as infectious disease and oncology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ligand has the potential to earn over $100 million in milestones and royalties on potential sales. In addition, Ligand has the potential to receive a 10% equity position in Chiva and will also receive an undisclosed percentage of any sublicensing revenue generated from sublicensing of collaboration compounds to third parties in a major world market. Ligand is entitled to receive initial 2011 license payments that total $1 million.

The following technology and programs are included in Ligand’s license to Chiva:

(1) Pradefovir is a HepDirect pro-drug of PMEA, which is the same active metabolite, produced by the FDA-approved HepB drug adefovir dipivoxil (Hepsera). The pro-drug enables higher concentrations of the drug in the liver, the primary site of replication for the hepatitis B virus, and lower concentrations in the kidney, where significant dose-limiting toxicities arise. Pradefovir displayed strong anti-HepB activity in Phase II studies conducted in the US, and Ligand has been attempting to find a partner for further development.

(2) MB07133 is a HepDirect pro-drug of the intermediate form of cytarabine (araC) 5′-monophosphate, which is designed to deliver a high concentration of the active form of the drug for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. MB07133 displayed a strong response rate on intra-hepatic tumor regression in a Phase I/II study conducted in the US.

HepDirect is a pro-drug technology that targets delivery of certain drugs to the liver by using a proprietary chemical modification that renders a drug biologically inactive until cleaved by a liver-specific enzyme. HepDirect may improve efficacy and/or safety of certain drugs and can be applied to marketed or new drug products.

With headquarters in Los Altos Hills, CA, Chiva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an affiliate of Hainan Kaihua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Hainan), a global pharmaceutical company specializing in bringing the best standard of care to the Chinese market, and on making drugs developed in China available to the world. Chiva’s and Hainan’s goal is to build a leading pharmaceutical company in China that competes on the world stage.

Ligand discovers and develops novel drugs that address critical unmet medical needs of patients for a broad spectrum of diseases, including hepatitis, muscle wasting, Alzheimer’s disease, dyslipidemia, diabetes, anemia, COPD, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. Ligand’s proprietary drug discovery and development programs are based on advanced cell-based assays, tissue-specific receptor ligand interactions and gene-expression tools.