ThromboGenics signs €1m licensing deal with Galapagos for diabetic eye disease treatment
pharmafile | March 21, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |
ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR) on Monday said it has signed a €1 million license deal with Galapagos NV (Nasdaq: GLPG) for its integrin antagonists to treat diabetic eye disease.
Under the terms of the agreement, aside of the upfront technology-transfer payment to Galapagos, ThromboGenics will also be entitled to receive certain development and commercial milestone pay outs plus royalties based on any future annual net sales of products that originated from its library of integrin antagonists.
Patrik De Haes, chief executive of ThromboGenics, comments: “Diabetic eye disease is the fastest growing segment of the overall ophthalmology market, and the number of patients needing improved treatment options for both diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema is expected to grow significantly over the next decade.”
The license agreement will give ThromboGenics access to a collection of integrin antagonists developed by Galapagos, the company said in a statement. The company said access to these molecules it can potentially develop a novel small molecule integrin antagonist which could be used to treat a broad range of patients with diabetic retinopathy, with or without diabetic macular edema.
According to the International Diabetes Federation, there are about 415 million people with diabetes worldwide and this number is expected to double over the next 20 years. One in three diabetics will develop diabetic retinopathy at some stage in his or her lifetime. Over the period to 2023 this market segment is forecast to grow at over 16% per annum from $1.6 billion to $4.2 billion.
Anjali Shukla
