www.immupharma.com
ImmuPharma plc is a drug discovery and development company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in investing in pharmaceutical research and development companies. The Company has operations in Mulhouse, France and Basle, Switzerland. The ImmuPharma plc focuses to develop drugs to treat serious medical conditions. It has five drugs in development to treat: lupus, cancer, severe pain, highly resistant infections, such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and inflammatory and allergic disorders. Its wholly owned subsidiaries include ImmuPharma (UK) Limited, which is a holding company; ImmuPharma (France) SA, which is engaged in pharmaceutical research and development, and ImmuPharma AG, which is engaged in pharmaceutical research and development.
ImmuPharma: regaining of Lupuzor rights to bring “a lot more cash into the company”
After drug discovery and development firm ImmuPharma (LON:IMM) announced today that it is to regain the rights to Lupuzor from its partner Cephalon, its chief executive Dimitri Dimitriou told Proactive Investors this afternoon that the deal represents an opportunity to bring “a lot more cash into the company.”
The firm has regained the rights to Lupuzor as a result of the completion last week of the acquisition of US drug firm Cephalon by Israel’s Teva Pharmaceuticals. Because Teva has a rival candidate drug aimed at Lupus, the competing interest means that ImmuPharma is able – under key provisions of its agreement with Cephalon – to request the return of the rights to Lupuzor.
ImmuPharma is a biotechnology company that has a peptide pipeline that targets a number of diseases in areas of unmet medical need. This includes the Lupuzor peptide for Lupus, which is now entering late-stage development.
In 2008, ImmuPharma made an option agreement with Cephalon, while it was in the middle of a Phase IIb study designed, managed and funded by ImmuPhama. Cephalon paid ImmuPharma US$15 million, before the results of the study were known, for the exclusive option to enter into a worldwide licence.
Following positive results of the ImmuPharma study in early 2009, Cephalon exercised its option by paying a further US$30 million. This was part of an agreement worth US$500 million in cash milestone payments, plus royalties on product sales.
Now that ImmuPharma has regained all rights to Lupuzor, it and Cephalon will decide the future of the current clinical trials that Cephalon has initiated in Lupus patients in the US and Europe. The firm expects to provide a detailed update of the development of Lupuzor during the next few weeks.
But the move means that ImmuPharma is now able to make a new deal concerning Lupuzor with a third-party pharmaceuticals firm that would likely prove lucrative for ImmuPharma, according to Dimitriou. “I’m expecting a lot more interest than last time, when we made the deal with Cephalon,” he told us.
The development of Lupuzor has moved along significantly since 2008. Commenting on the news today, broker Merchant Securities described Lupuzor as a “highly valuable asset” given the strong efficacy data previously generated by Phase IIb trials in Europe. The recent Phase IIb trial in the US, conducted by Cephalon, will see now 130 patients from the trial rolled into a Phase III trial.
Earlier today, Dimitriou said: “We appreciate the support of Cephalon in the development of Lupuzor during our collaboration.”
ImmuPharma’s share price was down 5.5 per cent to 74.2 pence in mid-afternoon trading today.
