Boehringer signs diabetes and obesity deal
pharmafile | May 14, 2009 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Boehringer
Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a deal with German biopharma firm DeveloGen to research and develop treatments for diabetes and obesity.
Goettingen-based company DeveloGen specialises in looking at key drivers in the development of diabetes and obesity – among them insulin resistance and the loss of insulin-producing beta cells.
"Initial compounds, that have been discovered and optimized by DeveloGen, have proven to be effective in preclinical models of type II diabetes and obesity, improving carbohydrate and lipid metabolism while reducing weight gain and preserving beta cell function," said chef executive Cord Dohrmann.
Through a combination of asset sale, purchase and collaboration agreements, Boehringer will pay 7 million euros to the company up front, but DeveloGen could then earn at least 237 million euros in milestone payments as well as further research payments.
The agreement covers the fields of diabetes, obesity, the metabolic syndrome and other insulin resistance associated disorders.
Boehringer itself has three diabetes products in development at present. The frontrunner is BI 1356, whose proposed trade name is Ondero.
Designed to prevent type II diabetes, phase III trials of the DPP-4 inhibitor started worldwide last year.
The pharma company also has two sodium-dependent glucose transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors – BI 44847 and BI 10773 – which eliminate excess blood glucose via the urine and are in phase II trials.
DeveloGen has two programmes in train at present: a small molecule inhibitor for type II diabetes and a growth factor targeting beta-cell regeneration (aimed at type I and type II).
It also has DG3173 (somatoprim), a somatostatin analogue for the treatment of acromegaly, carcinoid tumors and diabetic retinopathy, has completed phase I.
"Boehringer Ingelheim has built an impressive late stage pipeline of innovative metabolic disease programmes," continued Dohrmann.
"We are convinced that the leadership by Boehringer Ingelheim will provide optimal support for further development of this programme."
The companies say global pharma sales of diabetes drugs are expected to reach $22 billion by 2012.
Boehringer Ingelheim chairman Andreas Barner said: "The steadily increasing prevalence of diabetes can only be addressed by new and improved therapies involving novel mechanisms with improved safety and efficacy."
Last year Boehringer Ingelheim's overall net sales rose 6% to 11.6 billion euros, of which prescription medicines accounted for 9.1 billion euros.
The company needs to replace products facing patent expiry in 2010.
Diabetes is estimated to afflict around 6% of the world's adult population, with the figure expected to rise one percentage point by 2025 to 380 million sufferers.
In the US, the world's largest pharmaceutical market, diabetes and obesity now affects one in four people.
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