Orexo and Boehringer Ingelheim extend their research collaboration
Swedish pharmaceutical company Orexo and Boehringer Ingelheim, the international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, have extended their existing three-year research collaboration for a further 12 months from November 2008. The deal has a total potential value of Euro 250m in milestones to Orexo, excluding royalties.
Swedish pharmaceutical company Orexo and Boehringer Ingelheim, the international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, have extended their existing three-year research collaboration for a further 12 months from November 2008. The deal has a total potential value of Euro 250m in milestones to Orexo, excluding royalties.
The research collaboration is a part of an exclusive worldwide licence to develop and market a new class of drugs with a novel mechanism of action for the treatment of pain and inflammation.
The collaboration is focused on the development of a drug that specifically inhibits the enzyme prostaglandin (PG) E synthase (mPGES) to reduce the production of PGE2, an endogenous substance that is central to various inflammatory processes. Thanks to its selective inhibition, the drug could have fewer side-effects than existing pain medications, such as the NSAIDs.
"The medical need in the area of pain and inflammation is considerable and this collaboration has the potential to answer the patients" and physicians" need for a new treatment that is both safe and efficacious," said Orexo ceo Dr Torbjoern Bjerke.
Under the terms of the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will continue research funding to Orexo in the OX-MPI project. Boehringer Ingelheim holds exclusive rights to all further compound development and marketing, except in the Nordic and Baltic regions, where Boehringer Ingelheim and Orexo will co-promote potential products developed.