Collaboration Agreement Aims to Develop Orally Administered Treatment for Diabetic Macular Edema and Wet AMD
Korea-based biopharmaceutical company Curacle announced that it has entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Théa Open Innovation (TOI) for the development and commercialization of Curacle's CU06-RE, which is being examined as an orally administered treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Under the terms of the agreement, Curacle will receive an upfront payment of $6 million and could receive up to an additional $157.5 million in potential development, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as royalties on sales if CU06-RE is successfully developed, which will entitle Curacle to receive up to $2 billion in total payments. Théa and Curacle will closely collaborate on the clinical development of this novel oral drug. Curacle will be responsible for the phase 1 and 2 clinical studies with TOI providing both financial and infrastructure support. Further, under the terms of the agreement, Curacle will retain the marketing rights in all Asia countries while Théa will have the marketing rights in all other countries around the world.
According to Dr. Young Guen Kwon, the founder of Curacle, “CU06-RE is expected to be the world’s first `orally administered' treatment for diabetic macular edema and wet AMD, and because of its high efficacy and convenience as an oral treatment, CU06-RE promises to establish the standard for treatment that reduces the number of intraocular injection (IVT) administration made possible through co-administration with anti-VEGF.”
Dr. Kwon added that “As the world’s first vascular endothelial dysfunction blocker developed with Curacle's SOLVADYS platform technology, CU06-RE can be applied to patients whose symptoms have worsened due to resistance to anti-VEGF injections, providing great hope for patients who currently do not have a suitable treatment option.”
”Through this strategic and collaborative alliance with Théa, a leading global ophthalmic company, we have been able to accelerate the development of CU06-RE as the world’s first oral treatment and the world’s first vascular endothelial dysfunction blocker,” Jae Hyeon Ryu, CEO of Curacle, said in a company news release.
“We are excited about partnering with Curacle, a truly innovative biotechnology company with a game changing technology platform,” remarked Mr. Jean-Frédéric Chibret, president of Théa. Mr. Chibret further commented that “through this licensing collaboration, Théa and Curacle will provide a new first-in-class treatment with an alternative and noninvasive route of administration and most importantly, convenience for patients. This agreement is in line with the other partnerships that we have set up over the last 2 years and further illustrates our will to build a strong and diversified retina pipeline.”