MS Drug Deal to Net More Than USD 1 Billion

A pharmaceutical company based in Switzerland has purchased the remaining rights to the multiple sclerosis drug Ofatumumab, which will allow it to continue development of the compound for treating relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and similar autoimmune diseases.

Novartis (Basel, Switzerland) recently announced that it would spend more than one billion USD to purchase outstanding rights for the drug Ofatumumab from its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (London, United Kingdom).

Ofatumumab (trade name Arzerra, also known as HuMax-CD20) is a fully human monoclonal antibody for the CD20 protein, which appears to inhibit early-stage B lymphocyte activation. It is [US] Food and Drug Administration approved for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia that is refractory to fludarabine and alemtuzumab and has also shown potential in treating follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis, and relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Ofatumumab has also received conditional approval in Europe for the treatment of refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Results obtained during a Phase IIa dose finding trial revealed that Ofatumumab led to a “significant reduction of up to 90% in the cumulative number of new brain lesions in patients with MS between weeks 4 to 12 of the study.” No surprising safety events were reported in the study.

GlaxoSmithKline is to receive USD 300 million from Novartis up front with another payment of USD 200 million to follow after the commencement of late-stage clinical trials. GlaxoSmithKline has also been guaranteed royalties of 12% for any future net sales of the compound.

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