yahoo.reuters.com
U.S. flu drug maker teams up with Japan's Shionogi
Mon Mar 5, 2007 10:29pm ET
WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BCRX.O: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Monday it signed an exclusive license agreement with Japan's Shionogi & Co. Ltd. to make its peramivir flu drug.
Peramivir would be the third influenza drug on the market in a class called neuraminidase inhibitors, which experts hope would be useful against both regular seasonal flu and the dangerous H5N1 avian influenza virus.
"Shionogi is the leading infectious disease company in Japan, and this agreement further validates the therapeutic potential and commercial viability of peramivir in the treatment of influenza," Randall Riggs, BioCryst's senior vice president for corporate development, said in a statement.
Jon Stonehouse, chief executive officer of Birmingham, Alabama-based BioCryst, said the companies "will collaborate to evaluate other injectable formulations of peramivir."
"Shionogi will retain Japanese marketing rights to all injectable formulations while BioCryst retains marketing rights for the rest of the world outside of Korea," Stonehouse said.
Under the agreement, Shionogi will have the rights in Japan in exchange for a $14 million up-front payment.
"Not only will this deal help speed up foreign development of the peramivir program, but it provides another source of excellent validation, much like the $100-plus million contract from (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) did," said the Medical Technology Stock Letter, edited by California-based analyst John McCamant.
In January, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded BioCryst a $102.6 million, four-year contract for advanced development of peramivir to treat influenza.
The Medical Technology Stock Letter said BioCryst was undervalued by stock traders.
There are four existing flu drugs but the two older ones, amantadine and rimantadine, are no longer considered effective.
Roche (ROG.V: Quote, Profile , Research) and Gilead Sciences' (GILD.O: Quote, Profile , Research) Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, is the first choice against both seasonal flu and H5N1 avian influenza. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L: Quote, Profile , Research)(GSK.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Biota Holdings' (BTA.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) Relenza, or zanamivir, can also be used.
But both are in short supply and flu viruses can mutate quickly and evolve resistance to drugs, so experts want more choices.
Seasonal flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide every year and a pandemic of flu would kill many more.
Many scientists fear H5N1 avian influenza could easily cause a human pandemic with a few more mutations. So far, the virus has infected 277 people and killed 167 of them. |
