Sanofi and Hanmi partner to create long-acting diabetes treatments
pharmafile | November 5, 2015 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development | Korea, Sanofi, diabetes, hanmi
Sanofi and Hanmi Pharmaceutical have announced a worldwide license agreement to develop a portfolio of experimental, long-acting diabetes treatments.
Korea’s Hanmi will receive an upfront payment of €400 million and is eligible for up to €3.5 billion in further payments if it meets milestones in the development, registration and sales of the potential drugs to come out of the partnership.
These ‘Quantum Project’ treatments include efpeglenatide, a late-stage long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist and potential weight-loss treatment; a weekly insulin; and a fixed-dosed weekly GLP-1-RA/insulin drug combination.
All of these drugs utilise Hanmi’s proprietary long acting protein/peptide discovery platform, called Lapscovery, which is a platform technology that prolongs the duration of action of biologics – and extends a peptide or protein’s half-life from weekly to monthly, Hanmi says. The companies say their objective is to reduce the frequency and dosage of treatments for patients, potentially lowering the adverse event rates and optimising efficacy.
Hanmi will retain exclusive rights to co-commercialise these products in Korea and China, as well as double digit royalties on net sales, while Sanofi will obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialise the three therapeutic offerings known collectively as the ‘Quantum Project’.
Speaking on the deal, Pascale Witz, executive vice president, Sanofi, who will lead the global diabetes and cardiovascular care business unit in the company’s new organisational structure, says: “The agreement to develop these three investigational diabetes medicines confirms Sanofi’s long-term commitment to people with this disease.
“We now have the opportunity to expand our existing portfolio by including medicines that are administered weekly as well as daily, which could extend our reach in basal insulin and expand our GLP-1-RA and GLP-RA/insulin combination prospects. In these ways, we aim to complement our current offerings and work to serve a broader patient population.”
While Dr Gwan Sun Lee, chief executive and president of Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, says: “We are pleased that Sanofi with its long heritage and as a proven leader with solid track of success in diabetes, has recognised the value of Hanmi’s Quantum Project. We are confident that we have found the right partner and are excited for the potential this license agreement with Sanofi will bring to the development of Hanmi’s Quantum Project and possibilities this could offer to people with diabetes.”
Joel Levy
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