Boehringer Ingelheim and DeveloGen AG, have announced the signing of an asset sale and purchase and collaboration agreement in the field of diabetes, obesity, the metabolic syndrome and other insulin resistance associated disorders.
Under the terms of the agreement, DeveloGen will receive an upfront payment of € 7 million, but has the opportunity to earn additional deferred payments such as potential milestone payments of up to €237 million as well as tiered sales performance payments. The milestone payments will be due upon achievement of certain preclinical and clinical as well as regulatory and commercial events. Further milestone payments may be achieved with additional compounds and/or additional approved indications. DeveloGen will also receive research payments to support further discovery and development efforts.
Dr. Cord Dohrmann, Chief Executive Officer of DeveloGen commented: "Using a unique functional genomics approach, DeveloGen has identified and validated a relevant target directly addressing insulin resistance. Initial compounds, that have been discovered and optimized by DeveloGen, have proven to be effective in preclinical models of type 2 diabetes and obesity, improving carbohydrate and lipid metabolism while reducing weight gain and preserving beta cell function." Dr. Dohrmann continued: "Boehringer Ingelheim has built an impressive late stage pipeline of innovative metabolic disease programs. We are convinced that the leadership by Boehringer Ingelheim will provide optimal support for further development of this program."
Prof. Andreas Barner, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors and Head of Corporate Board Division Pharma Research, Development and Medicine, added, "The steadily increasing prevalence of diabetes can only be addressed by new and improved therapies involving novel mechanisms with improved safety and efficacy. Boehringer Ingelheim is looking forward to collaborate with DeveloGen on this program which will complement and expand Boehringer Ingelheimâs current diabetes pipeline beyond our two late stage development compounds targeting DPP-4 and SGLT-2. We will continue to use our expertise in metabolic research, drug development and commercialization to make advances for patients suffering from these serious lifelong diseases."
About Diabetes
Diabetes is a global epidemic with devastating human, social and economic consequences. In 2007 it was estimated that 246 million people worldwide have diabetes, representing roughly 6% of the adult population. The number is expected to reach 380 million by 2025, representing over 7% of the adult population. Diabetes/obesity is the fastest growing disease in the U.S., afflicting one in four Americans and accounting for well over 30% of the Medicare budget. Global pharmaceutical sales for diabetes drugs has grown over the last ten years to over US$ 17 billion in 2005. Overall, anti-diabetic drugs sales are expected to grow to over US$ 22 billion by 2012.
About DeveloGen
DeveloGen AG is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic and endocrine diseases. The Company has a highly innovative and deep preclinical discovery pipeline addressing the key drivers in the development of diabetes and obesity such as insulin resistance and loss of insulin-producing beta cells. This pipeline includes two programs at advanced stages of lead optimization, a small molecule inhibitor program based on a novel and proprietary target to address insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes) and a growth factor targeting beta-cell regeneration (type 1 and type 2 diabetes). In addition, the Company is developing DG3173 (Somatoprim), a potentially best-in-class somatostatin analogue for the treatment of acromegaly, carcinoid tumors and diabetic retinopathy, which has recently completed a Phase 1 clinical trial. DeveloGen is based in Goettingen, Germany.
About Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the worldâs 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 138 affiliates in 47 countries and 41,300 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the independent, family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
In 2008, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of 11.6 billion euro while spending one fifth of net sales in its largest business segment Prescription Medicines on research and development.