With the license obtained from Polyphor, which is headquartered in Allschwil in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Santhera plans to expand its lung disease product portfolio.
The product candidate POL6014 was developed to treat cystic fibrosis and other neutrophilic pulmonary diseases, such as non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) and primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).
It is currently in the clinical development stage, according to a statement. For an initial payment of 6.5 million Swiss francs, Santhera has the rights to develop and commercialize POL6014. Milestone payments of up to 121 million francs and other potential payments have also been agreed.
“There is still a high unmet medical need in treating the chronic inflammation in patients with cystic fibrosis and other neutrophilic pulmonary diseases. In a first step, we intend to execute a multiple ascending dose (MAD) tolerability trial during the second half of 2018 which has already been planned by Polyphor,” commented Santhera CEO Thomas Meier in the statement.
Santhera also intends to initiate discussions with regulators in the EU and U.S. concerning the approval of POL6014 to treat cystic fibrosis.