Under the terms of the agreement, Inspire has acquired exclusive rights to develop and commercialize oral formulations of bilastine in the US and Canada, as well as the exclusive right to for the ocular formulation in various markets worldwide.
The agreement provides that Inspire will pay Faes an upfront license fee of $7 million and up to an additional $82 million of payments. Inspire will also pay a royalty of 14 to 16% on net sales of bilastine in the US and Canada. Faes will keep distribution rights for bilastine in Spain and Portugal.
“Our collaboration with Faes represents an ideal strategic opportunity for Inspire. Bilastine expands our allergy franchise and will leverage our clinical development expertise and historical success of our commercial team,” said Christy Shaffer, CEO of Inspire.
Inspires believes that bilastine could generate more than $200 million dollars in peak sales in the $3 billion annual oral antihistamine market in the US.
Faes has assessed bilastine in the once-daily oral tablet formulation in two phase III trials in Europe that had positive outcomes. Inspire said it anticipates conducting at least one additional trial in the US to broaden the experience with the compound and to enhance the competitive position of the potential product.