GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) will be able to take an osteoporosis compound in a new direction for possible use in stem cell transplants under a new deal with drug partner NPS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NPSP).
The new agreement with NPS also assigns to the New Jersey specialty pharmaceutical company two early stage compounds that could become orphan drugs addressing rare calcium-related disorders. NPS develops orphan drugs for rare gastrointestinal and endocrine disorders. London-based GSK, which has its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, originally struck its research and collaboration agreement with NPS in 1993. Under that deal, the compound ronacaleret was discovered and studied as a treatment for osteoporosis in post-menopausal women.
Specific financial terms of the new agreement were not disclosed, but the deal makes GSK responsible for all development, manufacturing and commercialization of ronacaleret. NPS will receive development milestones and royalties on future sales of the drug. The new deal terminates GSK’s rights to other calcilytic compounds discovered or developed under the 1993 agreement.
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The new pact gives NPS the investigational new drug filings to two compounds, NPSP790 and NPSP795. The company will research those compounds as potential treatments for autosomal dominant hypocalcemia with hypercalciuria (ADHH), a rare endocrine disorder affecting the body’s calcium receptors that results in chronically low calcium levels in the blood.
Both of those compounds have been evaluated in preclinical animal studies and phase 1 clinical trials. There is currently no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for ADHH.
