Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will obtain worldwide rights to BCX-4208 in exchange for a $25 million up-front payment and a $5 million payment as reimbursement for supply of material during the first 24 months of the collaboration.
Future event payments could reach $530 million in addition to royalties on product sales of BCX-4208. For five years, Roche will have a right of first negotiation on existing back-up PNP inhibitors in transplant rejection or autoimmune diseases.
BCX-4208 is a transition-state purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor believed to have a potent ability to modulate T- cell activity. T-cells help the body determine when to initiate immune responses and when to accept or reject newly transplanted organs. By specifically modulating T-cell activity, BCX-4208 may offer transplant and autoimmune patients a more efficacious and tolerable treatment option.
“We are extremely pleased to enter into this agreement with Roche, a leader in the transplant and autoimmune disease markets,” stated Dr Charles Bugg, BioCryst’s chairman and CEO. “This collaboration not only produces a substantial strategic and economic benefit to BioCryst, it also provides all of the essential elements for the rapid, comprehensive and competitive development of BCX-4208.”