Rhein Minapharm licenses Elafin from Proteo

Rhein Minapharm, Cairo-based Minapharm’s biotechnology subsidiary, will exclusively market Elafin in Egypt, Middle Eastern and African countries. Proteo will receive an upfront payment, milestone-payments and royalties on net product sales. In addition, Minapharm will take over the funding of clinical research activities for the designated region.

The agreement schedules the transfer of the biotechnological production process of Elafin to Cairo. This process is based on Hansenula polymorpha, a yeast technology licensed by Artes Biotechnology, Germany.

Elafin is a protein that is produced naturally in the skin, lung and breast, protecting the respective tissue from destruction by the immune system, making it a highly promising active compound for the treatment of inflammatory lung diseases or severe reperfusion injuries. The excellent tolerability of Elafin in human subjects was demonstrated in a phase I clinical single dose escalating study.