Aspireo Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

May 15, 2015 By Riley McDermid , BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor Swedish biotech Cortendo has made a series of deals for around $140 million to build out its rare disease pipeline, the company said this week, as it seeks to raise $33.2 million through a private placement. Those funds will then be rolled into further development of its portfolio, the company said in a statement. The company’s chief executive also said Cortendo is “actively exploring” other possible partnerships in endocrinology. Cortendo said it will pay about $30 million in equity for investigational drug Somatoprim (DG3173) from Aspireo Pharmaceuticals . That drug is poised to move into Phase III trials for acromegaly in newly-diagnosed patients and is a next-generation somatostatin analog (SSA). It has also shown some promise at treating neuroendocrine tumors and Cushing’s Syndrome by reducing growth hormone secretion. “ Cortendo is dedicated to addressing the needs of the rare disease community, and we are focused on developing novel therapeutic options and resources for rare diseases that will make a difference for patients, their families and physicians. The opportunity to advance ATL1103, a novel second-generation antisense therapeutic with potential utility in acromegaly, nicely complements COR-003, our existing Phase 3 asset for Cushing’s Syndrome, and builds upon our rare endocrine disease franchise,” said Matthew Pauls, president and chief executive officer of Cortendo . “We are also continuing to actively explore other partnerships in endocrinology as well as other therapeutic areas for rare diseases.” In addition, Cortendo just inked an exclusive licensing agreement with Antisense Therapeutics Limited for development and commercialization rights outside of Australia and New Zealand for experiemental drug ATL1103. That clinical-stage second generation antisense drug is designed for endocrinology applications and has shown potential for treating like acromegaly, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, and some forms of cancer, the company said. Under the terms of the deal Cortendo will pay Antisense $5 million upfront, with $3 million in cash and $2 million in Antisense equity. It will also pony up as much as $105 million in payments tied to achieving development and commercialization milestones, with the potential for royalty payments based upon sales performance. “This is a significant deal not only for Antisense Therapeutics and its shareholders, but also for the Australian biotech industry as a whole,” said Mark Diamond , Antisense ’s CEO and managing director. “We aim to unlock further value from our pipeline, including ATL1102 for MS and other potential indications for ATL1103,” Diamond added. Cortendo said it will to raise approximately $33.2 million in a new private placement to help fund the development of the two drugs, ATL1103 and Somatoprim, as well a Phase III drug already in Cortendo ’s pipeline. Aspireo ’s primary shareholder TVM Capital will purchase $4.25 million of Cortendo shares, while new institutional investors will also join in, including Longwood Capital and Granite Point Capital . Existing investors include RA Capital , New Enterprise Associates , Broadfin Capital and HealthCap . “The addition of two novel, late-stage investigational compounds for the treatment of rare endocrine disorders, DG3173 and ATL1103, coupled with our existing Phase III asset for endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome, COR-003, establishes the cornerstone of Cortendo ’s rare endocrine disease franchise and demonstrates our commitment to becoming a leader in providing innovative therapeutic options to patients with rare diseases,” Pauls. Will AbbVie, Genentech’s New Cancer Drug Be a Game Changer? A promising new blood cancer therapy from AbbVie and Genentech that snagged headlines in early December for unexpectedly high rates of response in clinical trial patients has now been granted breakthrough status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , the companies said last week. The investigational drug, dubbed venetoclax, is an inhibitor of the B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) protein that is being developed by Abbvie in partnership with Genentech and Roche . BioSpace wants to know what you think this means for the broader market—and could venetoclax be a game changer? var _polldaddy = [] || _polldaddy; _polldaddy.push( { type: "iframe", auto: "1", domain: "biospace.polldaddy.com/s/", id: "will-abbvie-genentechs-new-cancer-drug-be-a-game-changer", placeholder: "pd_1431536145" } ); (function(d,c,j){if(!document.getElementById(j)){var pd=d.createElement(c),s;pd.id=j;pd.src=(' '==document.location.protocol)?' ':' ';s=document.getElementsByTagName(c)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(pd,s);}}(document,'script','pd-embed'));