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news.Ista Pharmaceuticals has licensed the North American rights to two investigational treatments for the degenerative eye disease glaucoma from Japanese company Senju Pharmaceuticals.
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Ista has invested approximately $8 million for each of the drug candidates which, if approved, will be complementary to Istalol, Ista’s once-daily beta blocker marketed for the treatment of glaucoma.
The first of these agreements is for a calcium channel blocker known as iganidipine. Calcium channel blockers are a new class of compounds, not approved previously for the treatment of glaucoma.
Early studies on iganidipine have shown this calcium channel blocker may have the ability to enhance ocular blood flow, lower intraocular pressure, and inhibit the progression of visual field defects. Based in part on these data, Ista said that it plans to initiate a phase II clinical study with this compound in the US in 2007.
The second deal is for Latanoprost, a member of the prostaglandin class of drugs, which is a standard treatment for glaucoma.
Ista is responsible for North American development for both product candidates, including clinical trials and the preparation and submission of the new drug applications to the FDA. Ista is also responsible for manufacturing and, if the products are approved, marketing and selling activities.
“We are very excited about filling out our glaucoma pipeline and having the opportunity to participate in new segments of the glaucoma market. If approved, and once commercialized, these products, together with Istalol, will position Ista as a leader in providing ophthalmologists with a wide variety of treatments for this billion dollar market,” said Vicente Anido, president and CEO of Ista.