Sanofi signs Indian pain drug development deal
pharmafile | May 5, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | Glenmark, Sanofi-Aventis, chronic pain, pain therapeutics
Sanofi-Aventis has signed an agreement with Indian firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to develop novel agents for the treatment of chronic pain.
Glenmark Pharma, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharma Ltd. India, will receive a total of $325 million in upfront and milestone payments and future tiered royalties.
The agents involved in the agreement are vanilloid receptor (TRPV3) antagonist molecules, including the compound GRC15300 that is currently in phase I trials as a potential next-generation treatment for various pain conditions including diabetic neuropathic pain and osteoarthritic pain.
Marc Cluzel, executive vice president, research and development at Sanofi-Aventis, said: “There continues to be a medical need for safer and more efficacious products for the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy and osteoarthritis pain.”
Cluzel continued: “GRC 15300 brings an innovative approach to Sanofi-Aventis’ pain portfolio, which we believe may have promise to address a significant gap in treating chronic pain.”
Sanofi will have exclusive marketing rights in the US, the EU and Japan subject to Glenmark’s right to co-promote the products in the US and five Eastern European countries. Glenmark will retain exclusive marketing rights in India.
Glenn Saldanha, chief executive of GPL, said: “This agreement continues to demonstrate Glenmark’s world class innovative R&D and validates Glenmark’s leadership in the Indian drug discovery arena.
“We have made excellent progress with our TRPV3 programme at Glenmark and are very excited to be joining our efforts with those of Sanofi-Aventis, a world-class, research-driven, global pharmaceutical company.”
The TRPV3 receptor is a protein that mediates and influences nerve signaling that produces some types of pain. Inhibitors of TRPV3 are predicted to be useful against this process and for the treatment of inflammation and other diseases and disorders.
Pain treatments often have difficulty successfully progressing through clinical testing and remain a largely unmet medical need. Most recently, UK biotech firm Vernalis was forced to drop its phase II neuropathic pain drug in March after it failed to show a marked difference against placebo.
Glenmark currently has eight molecules in various stages of clinical development that primarily focus in the areas of inflammation, pain and metabolic disorders. The company also has a large presence in the branded generics market crossing emerging economies, including India.
This agreement represents Sanofi’s first partnership agreement in the Indian pharma research area.
Sanofi hopes that this agreement will advance the GRC15300 compound and other promising drug candidates for providing patients with chronic pain and other conditions.
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