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news.Ista Pharmaceuticals has expanded its pipeline into allergy treatments by acquiring exclusive North American rights to Senju Pharmaceutical's investigational therapy for allergic conjunctivitis.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Ista will pay Senju an upfront payment and aggregate development and approval milestones of approximately $6 million.
The licensed drug is an eye drop formulation of bepotastine, an investigational ophthalmic treatment for the treatment of allergic conjunctivitis.
Ista anticipates moving bepotastine into phase III clinical studies in the US in early 2007, based upon extensive preclinical research and early-stage clinical evaluations that have been conducted in Japan by Senju.
If everything goes according to plan the company plans to submit an application for marketing approval to the FDA in late 2007 or early 2008.
“We believe that bepotastine’s multiple mechanisms of action and its non-sedating properties make it an ideal late-stage product candidate for Ista to enter this important segment of the market,” stated Vicente Anido, Jr., president and CEO of Ista.
Bepotastine was approved in Japan for use in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and uriticaria/puritus in July 2000 and January 2002, respectively, and is marketed by Tanabe Seiyaku Co, under the brand name Talion.