Recent interest in Biogen has focused on its new Alzheimer’s disease drug, but multiple sclerosis drugs still dominate the company’s investment portfolio and account for the majority of its revenue. However, generic drugs are eroding the sales of Biogen’s top multiple sclerosis drugs, so the company is looking overseas for a brain penetrating molecule that may become its next large-scale multiple sclerosis therapy.
Biogen has agreed $125 million paid Obtained the rights to the clinical stage drug orelabrutinib from Beijing InnoCare. The transaction gives Biogen the right to develop oral drugs for the treatment of MS and other autoimmune diseases worldwide, excluding China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan where InnoCare reserves the right.
Based on Biogen’s progress in developing the drug in other parts of the world, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company may make milestone payments of up to $812.5 million to its partners. InnoCare will also receive royalties from Biogen’s drug sales if it enters the market.
MS is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks myelin, which is a protective layer covering nerve cells. The disease is divided into different types. InnoCare has been developing drugs for the relapse-remitting form of this disease, which is characterized by the onset of neurological symptoms and then a period of remission. This is the same form of disease that Biogen’s best-selling drug Tecfidera is approved for treatment. Tecfidera’s global sales last year were 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 12.1% compared with the previous year’s sales. The company attributed the decline in revenue to multiple generic competitors entering the market.
InnoCare’s orelabrutinib is a small molecule designed to block Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), an enzyme that is part of the immune cell signaling cascade. BTK plays a role in signaling that causes B cells (a type of immune cell) to proliferate and survive. This enzyme is also the key to signal transduction in bone marrow cells, which are a different type of immune cell. The drug has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, making it possible to block the central nervous system and immune cells around the central nervous system. According to Biogen, the drug may be able to treat all forms of MS. InnoCare is currently testing the drug in phase 2 clinical trials worldwide.
In the process of acquiring InnoCare drugs, Biogen will try to capture other companies that are developing BTK blocking therapies for MS.After Principia Biopharma passed its brain penetration and BTK blocking small molecules to enter Phase 3 testing last year, the partners Sanofi agreed to nearly $3. $7 billion acquisition of biotech companiesMerck KGaA has reached stage 3 testing for evobrutinib, a small molecule that is also designed to penetrate the brain to block BTK. However, Biogen believes that InnoCare drugs can stand out among BTK blocking therapies.
“Given the complexity and chronic nature of MS, we believe that the unique properties of orelabrutinib, combined with high selectivity and CNS penetrance, may translate into potential clinical advantages over other BTKi projects,” said Alfred Sandrock, Biogen’s head of research and development. Prepared statement.
Olabutinib is already on the market in China, but as a cancer therapy. Chinese regulatory authorities have approved the drug for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma, as well as the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma.
Public domain images of Flickr users Monkey ajlfe
