PARIS and BOSTON, Dec. 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEOVACS (Alternext Paris:ALNEV), today announced the signature of an exclusive licensing agreement with Chong Kun Dang (CKD) Pharmaceutical Corp. (Seoul, South Korea) to market the IFNα-Kinoïd for the indications Lupus and Dermatomyositis, in South Korea.
In this country Lupus is considered as an orphan disease, with an estimated market just below 20,000 patients. This should enable CKD to start the registration process with the South Korean health authority by the end of 2017, following successful completion of the ongoing Phase IIb trial which includes five investigation centers in South Korea.
“This first partnering has a great priority for Neovacs as it should enable market access by early 2018 for IFNα-Kinoïd. We are very confident that with CKD we have the right partner for South Korea. More than thousand Korean patients are expected to be treated and followed between 2018 and 2020, in parallel to the Phase III trials -Europe and America- which should also include approximately thousand patients. When filing for registration in Europe, USA and Asia, Neovacs should therefore have data concerning safety, tolerability and efficacy from more than two thousand patients,” said Miguel Sieler, CEO of Neovacs, adding that “the valuation of the product agreed with CKD on the basis of the South Korean market size, is very promising.”
“CKD is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in South Korea, with a leading position in the market of immune suppressive treatments. As a consequence, CKD has already established close ties with doctors who treat Lupus patients. We have the strong ambition of a rapid market penetration with this innovative treatment, and are proud to strengthen our competency in immunotherapy thanks to this ground breaking French technology”, noted Young Joo Kim, President of CKD.
Under the terms of this agreement, Neovacs will receive five million euros in total, with one million as down-payment followed by milestone payments until first sales. Furthermore, Neovacs will also receive royalties on sales and a margin within the transfer price, as Neovacs will assure the supply of the finished product to CKD.
The interest shown by CKD in Neovacs‘s technology, leads both companies to agree to evaluate the possibilities of a further cooperation in preclinical and clinical trials in other therapeutics areas, such as immunotherapy in cancer and Macular Degeneration (MD).
About Neovacs Created in 1993, Neovacs is today a leading biotechnology company focused on an active immunotherapy technology platform (Kinoids) with applications in autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases. On the basis of the company’s proprietary technology for inducing a polyclonal immune response (covered by five patent families that potentially run until 2032) Neovacs is focusing its clinical development efforts on IFNα-Kinoid, an immunotherapy being developed for the indication of lupus and dermatomyositis. Neovacs is also conducting preclinical development works on other therapeutic vaccines in the fields of auto-immune diseases, oncology and allergies. The goal of the Kinoid approach is to enable patients to have access to safe treatments with efficacy that is sustained in these life-long diseases. www.neovacs.fr
About Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp. Founded in 1941, CKD is a fully integrated pharmaceutical company employing over 1,900 people. It is one of the leading local pharma companies in Korea and through in-licensing and in-house R&D, it has significantly contributed to improving health and quality of life of people mainly in Korea for more than 70 years. Domestically, it has a strong presence in cardiovascular and immunosuppressant areas and has local offices established in Vietnam and Indonesia. As a leading pharma in Immunosuppressants in Korea, CKD continues to strengthen its major therapeutic area by its R&D capability and licensing-in innovative drugs from business partners worldwide. http://www.ckdpharm.com/eng
ActeaVentures GmbH acted as business development advisor to Neovacs SA.