Organon and Cypress Bioscience to develop sleep disorder drug

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common breathing disorder which affects 15 to 20 million people in the US alone. The condition is characterized by brief interruptions in breathing during sleep, typically caused by a collapse of the upper airway. There is currently no approved treatment for OSA.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will combine their expertise in an effort to develop a safe and effective treatment for OSA. Drug development has already reached phase II trials.

The companies will share costs and final responsibility for clinical development activities and will jointly select the best drug candidate for progression.

Organon will have principal responsibility for the manufacturing and commercialization of pharmaceutical products resulting from the collaboration, while Cypress will take the operational lead regarding clinical development activities.

In the US, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA), the companies will co-commercialize successful candidates. Cypress will have the right to set up its own sales force responsible for 25% of the total detailing and promotional efforts in the NAFTA countries. Organon will be solely responsible for commercialization in the rest of the world and will pay Cypress a royalty on net sales.

Dr Jay Kranzler, chairman of the board and CEO of Cypress said: “After choosing OSA as a target, we spent considerable time exploring possible therapeutic approaches and drug candidates. We believe that, as a result of those efforts, we have chosen the candidates and designed the clinical approach to provide us with the highest probability of success. We look forward to working with Organon to realize the first drug treatment for this disorder.”