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EDMONTON - BioMS Medical Corp. has signed one of the biggest drug licensing and development deals ever in Canada for its multiple sclerosis treatment.
Drug giant Eli Lilly and Company gets exclusive worldwide rights to MBP8298 for an upfront payment of $87 million, development and sales milestones up to $410 million, and escalating royalties.
"I'm a little euphoric," BioMS chief executive Kevin Giese said Monday. "This is a top-level deal, and one of the largest in Canadian history for a single product. And it's only been a 'short' nine years."
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Robin Giese, a multiple sclerosis patient, and her husband, Cliff, chairman of BioMS Medical, pose for a picture in their Sherwood Park home on Monday.
Chris Schwarz, The Journal
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Font:****Giese said the deal, announced after market close Monday, speaks to the promise of the drug, and a family MS connection that turned science developed at the U of A into a fledgling drug company.
Giese's sister-in-law, Robin, married to his brother, Cliff, has had MS since she was 28 and participated in one of the early trials of the drug at the U of A.
The brothers formed BioMS nine years ago to continue its development. It typically takes 10 years to take a drug from initial development to commercialization because of regulatory requirements and safety concerns.
"Robin has been on the drug for 12 years and it's totally changed her life," Kevin said.
Cliff, who founded the Mr. Lube fast oil change chain, is chairman of the board at BioMS and his son, Ryan, is vice-president of corporate communications.
TEC Edmonton president David Cox said the "huge" deal was a feather in the cap of the university, the inventors of the technology, and the city.
More importantly, it offers some hope for MS sufferers, he said. "Eli Lilly doesn't put that kind of money on the table without going through everything with a fine-tooth comb."
TEC Edmonton is a partnership between the university, which still has a major equity position in BioMS, and the city to help new technology companies get their products to market.
Kevin Giese said the upfront payment from Lilly was "very significant," and the royalty framework comparable to other major drug development agreements.
The companies will share some of the development costs, with Lilly responsible for future R&D, manufacturing and marketing.
BioMS will continue to oversee the two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials being conducted for secondary progressive MS, and the Phase 2 trial for relapsing-remitting MS.
A Phase 2 trial and long-term follow-up treatment of patients published last year in the European Journal of Neurology showed MBP8298 safely delayed median time to disease progression by five years.
"Lilly's well-established leadership in the neurology arena and considerable resources, expertise and proven ability to launch first-in-class drugs will help MBP8298 to realize its full development and commercial potential," Giese said.
Lilly vice-president William W. Chin said the company is adding yet another promising late-stage compound to its portfolio.
"Multiple sclerosis is a disease with significant unmet patient needs. MBP8298 has shown potential in slowing the progression of secondary progressive MS, and thus may provide an effective therapeutic option for patients with this debilitating disease. We intend to fully leverage our expertise in neuroscience to continue the development of this novel molecule."
MS affects as many as 2.5 million people worldwide, including about 75,000 in Canada. About 40 per cent of patients have the secondary progressive form of the disease.
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Drug giant Eli Lilly and Company gets exclusive worldwide rights to MBP8298 for an upfront payment of $87 million, development and sales milestones up to $410 million, and escalating royalties.
"I'm a little euphoric," BioMS chief executive Kevin Giese said Monday. "This is a top-level deal, and one of the largest in Canadian history for a single product. And it's only been a 'short' nine years."
View Larger Image
Robin Giese, a multiple sclerosis patient, and her husband, Cliff, chairman of BioMS Medical, pose for a picture in their Sherwood Park home on Monday.
Chris Schwarz, The Journal
Email to a friend
Printer friendly
Font:****Giese said the deal, announced after market close Monday, speaks to the promise of the drug, and a family MS connection that turned science developed at the U of A into a fledgling drug company.
Giese's sister-in-law, Robin, married to his brother, Cliff, has had MS since she was 28 and participated in one of the early trials of the drug at the U of A.
The brothers formed BioMS nine years ago to continue its development. It typically takes 10 years to take a drug from initial development to commercialization because of regulatory requirements and safety concerns.
"Robin has been on the drug for 12 years and it's totally changed her life," Kevin said.
Cliff, who founded the Mr. Lube fast oil change chain, is chairman of the board at BioMS and his son, Ryan, is vice-president of corporate communications.
TEC Edmonton president David Cox said the "huge" deal was a feather in the cap of the university, the inventors of the technology, and the city.
More importantly, it offers some hope for MS sufferers, he said. "Eli Lilly doesn't put that kind of money on the table without going through everything with a fine-tooth comb."
TEC Edmonton is a partnership between the university, which still has a major equity position in BioMS, and the city to help new technology companies get their products to market.
Kevin Giese said the upfront payment from Lilly was "very significant," and the royalty framework comparable to other major drug development agreements.
The companies will share some of the development costs, with Lilly responsible for future R&D, manufacturing and marketing.
BioMS will continue to oversee the two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials being conducted for secondary progressive MS, and the Phase 2 trial for relapsing-remitting MS.
A Phase 2 trial and long-term follow-up treatment of patients published last year in the European Journal of Neurology showed MBP8298 safely delayed median time to disease progression by five years.
"Lilly's well-established leadership in the neurology arena and considerable resources, expertise and proven ability to launch first-in-class drugs will help MBP8298 to realize its full development and commercial potential," Giese said.
Lilly vice-president William W. Chin said the company is adding yet another promising late-stage compound to its portfolio.
"Multiple sclerosis is a disease with significant unmet patient needs. MBP8298 has shown potential in slowing the progression of secondary progressive MS, and thus may provide an effective therapeutic option for patients with this debilitating disease. We intend to fully leverage our expertise in neuroscience to continue the development of this novel molecule."
MS affects as many as 2.5 million people worldwide, including about 75,000 in Canada. About 40 per cent of patients have the secondary progressive form of the disease.
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Thank you for this information. This all goes back to the amino acids (Hystidine and Glycine) which monotreme was talking about.
These trials have been under way for 9 years and are still in progress.Some of the results have looked very promising for people suffering with SPMS. So promising, I suspect, that Eli Lilly wants, as the article states, the exclusive rights for $87 million.
I can see why the Chief Executive of BioMS would want to research and test this having an invested interest with his wife suffering from MS. This may help people ded with secondary progressive MS and possibly RRMS.
The trials of MBP8298 (it has not been given a name yet) are using a synthetic peptide that consists of 17 amino acids which apparently have a sequence identical to that of a portion of human myelin basic proten, which is the myelin that is being attacked in people with MS.
(There are 20 amino acids, 10 of which are made in a human body and ten that are essential).
Trials for the potential treatment of multiple sclerosis(MS) specifically are in Phase III (SPMS) and Phase II (RRMS). This MBP8298 is administered in high doses periodically by the intravenous route. It is designed for the induction or restoration of immunological tolerance with respect to ongoing immune attacks.
It turns out that in an earlier study, people with certain HLA types (DR2 and DR4) had a really good response to MBP8298, which works by reducing the number of antibodies in spinal fluid that attack myelin. The drug appeared to slow down clinical progression of disability as much as four-fold (78 months as opposed to 18 months for people taking a placebo).
As with the other trials, we shall see, but every trial helps us get a bit nearer.
These trials have been under way for 9 years and are still in progress.Some of the results have looked very promising for people suffering with SPMS. So promising, I suspect, that Eli Lilly wants, as the article states, the exclusive rights for $87 million.
I can see why the Chief Executive of BioMS would want to research and test this having an invested interest with his wife suffering from MS. This may help people ded with secondary progressive MS and possibly RRMS.
The trials of MBP8298 (it has not been given a name yet) are using a synthetic peptide that consists of 17 amino acids which apparently have a sequence identical to that of a portion of human myelin basic proten, which is the myelin that is being attacked in people with MS.
(There are 20 amino acids, 10 of which are made in a human body and ten that are essential).
Trials for the potential treatment of multiple sclerosis(MS) specifically are in Phase III (SPMS) and Phase II (RRMS). This MBP8298 is administered in high doses periodically by the intravenous route. It is designed for the induction or restoration of immunological tolerance with respect to ongoing immune attacks.
It turns out that in an earlier study, people with certain HLA types (DR2 and DR4) had a really good response to MBP8298, which works by reducing the number of antibodies in spinal fluid that attack myelin. The drug appeared to slow down clinical progression of disability as much as four-fold (78 months as opposed to 18 months for people taking a placebo).
As with the other trials, we shall see, but every trial helps us get a bit nearer.
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