December 19, 2014
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Eli Lilly and Company and Adocia announced today that they have struck a deal to develop a fast-acting insulin known as BioChaperone Lispro for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Upfront and milestone payments may reach up to $570 million, with Adocia receiving an upfront fee of $50 million.
“An ultra-rapid acting insulin, if approved by regulators, could provide a new important treatment option for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes,” said Enrique Conterno, president of Lilly Diabetes. “An ultra-rapid acting insulin would be a natural fit in our growing portfolio.”
Lilly will be responsible for future development, manufacturing and commercializing BioChaperone Lispro. The company will also reimburse Adocia for research and development expenses during the terms of the agreement.
“It is a great day for Adocia and Lilly, a global leader in diabetes treatment, to initiate a new collaboration for the development of an innovative ultra-rapid formulation of insulin lispro” said Gerard Soula, president and CEO of Adocia. “We consider Lilly a key collaborator on this project based on their extensive knowledge of insulin.”
Adocia is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in the development of already-approved therapeutic proteins. The company will retain the right to develop and license its insulin programs unrelated to the ultra-rapid insulin.
Positive Study Results for BioChaperone Lispro
In September, Adocia released the preliminary results from a phase 2a dose-response clinical trial designed to evaluate BioChaperone Lispro. They determined that the drug closely mimicked the endogenous insulin secretion seen in healthy individuals.
In testing, the drug was compared to Lilly’s Humalog, acommercial insulin treatment. BioChaperone Lispro showed a faster absorption rate than Humalog in the study.
“The present study supports the best-in-class potential of BioChaperone Lispro U100 among prandial insulins,” said Soula. “Based on the expected superior medical benefit of ultra-fast insulins for patients, we believe that BioChaperone Lispro U100 could efficiently compete on the $5B prandial insulin analogs market. Moreover, the minimal additional cost of the BioChaperone technology, which should permit to keep the price of the end-product unchanged, will probably be a key success factor considering the public policies to control healthcare expenses.”
Adocia presented information on its study at the 50th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna, Austria.
