Neurimmune licenses heart drug

Neurimmune AG with headquarters in Schlieren in the Greater Zurich Area has closed an exclusive global collaboration and license agreement with Alexion. The subsidiary of AstraZeneca with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, specializes in orphan drugs to treat rare diseases. Under this collaboration, which was first announced in January, the latest press release reveals that Alexion has been granted an exclusive, worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize the heart drug NI006.

Neurimmune will receive an upfront payment of US$30 million with the potential for additional contingent milestone payments of up to US$730 million. These milestone payments are payable upon achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, while royalties will be paid on net sales of any approved medicine resulting from the collaboration.

Neurimmune will continue to be responsible for completion of the current Phase Ib clinical study on behalf of Alexion. Alexion will handle the further clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization.

NI006 is in development to treat transthyretin amyloid (ATTR) cardiomyopathy. ATTR cardiomyopathy is characterized by the intramyocardial deposition of amyloid fibrils that increase heart wall thickness and cause heart muscle stiffness leading to ventricular dysfunction. It is a debilitating disease leading to heart failure and death. The monoclonal antibody NI006 enables the removal of amyloid fibril deposits in the heart.

Founded in 2006, Neurimmune is a spin-off from the University of Zurich (UZH) and is headquartered in Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zürich.