Novartis and Hybridon team up to develop asthma drugs

The agreements are structured in two phases. During the research collaboration phase, Hybridon and Novartis will work together to evaluate novel immune modulatory (IMO) compounds from which Novartis may select IMO candidates for further development through human clinical proof of concept trials.

Based on the results, Novartis may then elect to implement the commercialization agreement, complete the development, and commercialize one or more of the candidates.

Novartis will fund substantially all research activities and make payments to Hybridon, including up-front license fees and milestone payments, which, if Novartis elects to exercise its option to develop and commercialize IMO candidates, may total up to $136 million for the products, plus royalties.

The IMO compounds are agonists of toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). Toll-like receptors are recognized by the scientific community as the gateways to immune modulation. Agonists of TLR are potentially useful for treatment of a variety of diseases, including asthma, allergy, cancer and infectious disease. Hybridon’s lead IMO, IMOxine, is in a phase II human clinical trial for renal cell cancer.

“There is a pressing need to develop more effective methods of treating asthma and allergies, both of which are large and growing medical problems,” said Sudhir Agrawal, CEO and chief scientific officer of Hybridon. “We believe that our IMO technology can be used to develop immune modulatory compounds to address the underlying conditions of these diseases and result in novel treatments for these serious unmet medical needs.”