“Respiratory disease is a core therapeutic area for AstraZeneca, and a key growth platform for the company, says Maarten Kraan, head of Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmune Innovative Medicines at AstraZeneca.”
AstraZeneca broadened its respiratory pipeline with a new global licensing agreement with UK biotech Synairgen for its experimental drug SNG001. SNG001 is a novel, inhaled interferon beta in early-stage development for treating respiratory tract viral infections in patients with severe asthma.
The deal comes just days after it rejected Pfizer’s $117 billion offer and chose to remain independent, saying that it is confident that the pipeline it is building will provide for its future. The deal also gave a big boost to Synairgen, shares of which soared on the news.
AstraZeneca will pay Synairgen $7.25 million upfront, and up to another $225 million in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on commercial sales. It will take over all future development costs and is planning to begin a mid-stage study of the immune-modulatory drug in early 2015 to test its ability to prevent infections in patients with severe asthma. If that goes well, it may expand the program to include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory disorders.
“Respiratory disease is a core therapeutic area for AstraZeneca, and a key growth platform for the company,” says Maarten Kraan, head of Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmune Innovative Medicines at AstraZeneca. “Our approach includes addressing associated complications that patients experience, as well as developing treatments for the underlying disease. SNG001 is an innovative and targeted therapy that has, if successful, the potential to offer a step-change in the treatment of severe asthma, and possibly COPD.”
SNG001 has a broad-spectrum anti-viral effect and acts by delivering interferon-beta to the lungs when an infection, such as a common cold, begins to develop in the upper airways. Patients with pulmonary disease are more vulnerable to viral infections, thought to result from their inability to produce interferon-beta in their lungs. Synairgen’s inhaled interferon-beta boosts the body’s anti-viral defense and combats the spread of the virus, preventing or reducing the severity of exacerbations.
It was just one year ago when AstraZeneca paid $560 million upfront to acquire Pearl Therapeutics for its oral late-stage treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and inhaler and formulation technology platform for combination products. The total payout for Pearl could be as much as $1.15 billion if the drug is commercialized and meets certain sales milestones.
June 12, 2014
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-astrazeneca_and_synairgen_in_232m_asthma_deal.html