“We don’t compete with symptom relievers and people will still have headaches—but not a migraine, says Steven James, CEO of Labrys Biologics.”
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is buying Labrys Biologics, a privately-held biotech focused on treatments for chronic migraine and episodic migraine, in a deal that broadens the generics powerhouse’s biotechnology assets puts it in a race with several other companies developing treatments to prevent migraines.
Teva is paying $200 million in upfront payment in cash for Labrys and up to another $625 million in contingent payments based on the achievement of certain pre-launch milestones. Teva says Labrys’ experimental therapy LBR-101 has the potential to reach peak sales of $2 to $3 billion.
Labrys was formed in 2012 around a Pfizer program, LBR-101, that it acquired, which had stalled due to a pipeline restructuring. Pfizer had acquired it when it bought Rinat in 2006. Founded by ex-Pfizer executive and venture capitalist Corey Goodman, the biotech quickly raised $31 million and set up shop in San Mateo with 10 employees and hired former Kai Pharmaceuticals CEO Steven James to head the new company.
LBR-101 is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets the calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP, pathway, the hottest target today in migraines, says James. Migraines occur when too much of the peptide is produced.
Current treatments block the CGRP receptor with small molecules that work for the acute treatment of a migraine once it happens, but as many as four to five million people in the United States suffer from high frequency episodic migraines—up to eight to 14 times a month. Those are the people Labrys is hoping to help with its prophylactic treatment. “Anyone who requires a preventive measure, says James. “We don’t compete with symptom relievers and people will still have headaches—but not a migraine.”
The experimental drug, which is given once a month by subcutaneous injection, had already gone through five phase 1 studies. It is now in mid-stage testing with top line data expected in early 2015.
Teva has been struggling over the past few ears and has undergone several reorganizations and executive changes as it deals with the impeding loss of exclusivity for its top selling multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. It is looking to the Labrys acquisition to help it achieve its goal of becoming a global leader in pain by 2020. The deal adds a significant migraine prophylaxis dimension to Teva’s portfolio of experimental and marketed treatments for migraine, cancer pain and chronic pain.
“More than 8.5 million people in the US, EU and Japan suffer from episodic or chronic migraine requiring preventative treatment, a condition that can destroy their quality of life,” says Michael Hayden, Teva’s president of Global R&D and chief scientific officer. “CGRP is a well-validated target in migraine, and Labrys has progressed the development of LBR-101 with scientific rigor and excellence. With its long half-life, target specificity and favorable pharmacokinetic profile allowing for infrequent, and convenient, subcutaneous administration, LBR-101 represents a very exciting biologic product candidate, and much needed option, for the management of this truly debilitating condition.”
Other companies developing drugs that target the CGRP pathway to prevent migraines include Eli Lilly and Arteaus, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen, and Alder Biopharmaceuticals.
June 05, 2014
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-teva_scoops_up_labrys_biologics_for_up_to_825m.html