A company developing a drug for a rare genetic disease that causes developmental disabilities has made a licensing deal with an Italian firm for exclusive rights in Europe.
New York-based Ovid Therapeutics said Monday that it had signed an agreement with Rome-based Angelini Pharma that would grant the latter company exclusive development, manufacturing and commercialization rights for the drug gaboxadol in the European Union, European Economic Area, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Russia. Also known as OV101, gaboxadol is in a Phase III trial in patients with Angelman syndrome, topline results from which are anticipated in the fourth quarter of this year.
Shares of Ovid rose 7% Monday morning following the news and were up 2.7% from their opening price Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq. Angelini is a private company with a significant neurology business.
Angelini will pay Ovid $20 million upfront milestone payments of up to $212.5 million, as well as royalties. Gaboxadol is delta-selective GABA-A receptor agonist and, according to Ovid, is believed to be the only such drug. The Phase III study, NEPTUNE, began in September 2019 and is enrolling up to 95 patients, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.
“Angelini Pharma is an ideal partner for Europe as they have deep regional knowledge, an established infrastructure with a history of successful product launches and a commitment to improving the quality of life of the patient communities they serve,” Ovid CEO Jeremy Levin said in a statement. “Finding the right partners to bring OV101 to the Angelman community as rapidly as possible is a core part of our global strategy.”
In a note to investors Tuesday, Cowen analyst Ritu Baral wrote that the deal is overall a positive for Ovid because it strengthens the company’s balance sheet while giving it assistance with commercialization in key European territories and Russia. She cited market research by Ovid estimating that there may be about 26,000 patients with Angelman syndrome in the top five European Union countries, making it an important market for the commercial success of treatments for the disease.
Photo: Radachynskyi, Getty Images
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