The Hindu Business Line : Glenmark's Swiss arm in deal with Teijin Pharma of Japan

GLENMARK Pharmaceuticals Ltd announced on Tuesday that its Switzerland-based subsidiary, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, has entered into $53-million deal with Teijin Pharma of Japan by licensing its asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder drug.

The drug GRC 3886 is a novel, orally available PDE4 inhibitor discovered by Glenmark.

The agreement allows Teijin Pharma to have the exclusive right to develop, register and commercialise GRC 3886 for all potential indications for which the product might receive approval in the Japanese market.

Teijin Pharma will pay the $53 million through a combination of upfront and milestone payments. Additionally, after the commercial launch, Teijin Pharma will pay Glenmark annual sums that are marginally higher than the first quartile of net sales of product in Japan towards supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and royalties.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals SA has also received a milestone payment of $10 million from Forest Laboratories Inc as the Phase I clinical trials on Glenmark's PDE4 inhibitor GRC 3886 have been completed.

This is the second payment received by Glenmark. It had earlier received $10 million as upfront payment. Glenmark had licensed the drug to Forest Laboratories in September 2004.

After these two collaborations, Glenmark retains rights to GRC 3886 for all markets excluding North America and Japan and is in discussions with potential collaboration partners for Europe as well.

Forest Laboratories is expected to begin Phase II clinical trials early next year.

The company said that the development of GRC 3886 is going as planned. Phase I studies have demonstrated that GRC 3886 is well tolerated and exhibits predictable pharmacokinetics in human volunteers. Additionally, the drug has exhibited a long half-life suggesting a once daily dosing regimen may be possible in future studies in patients.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page