Under the terms of the agreement, Gilead will pay LGLS a $20 million upfront license payment and royalties on net sales. LGLS also could earn up to $182 million in payments based upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Gilead’s license is worldwide, with the exception of Korea, China and India where LGLS has retained rights. LGLS also has the worldwide right to develop and commercialize caspase inhibitors for ophthalmic and topical uses.
The agreement grants Gilead commercialization rights to LG Life Sciences’s (LGLS) caspase inhibitors, including LB84451, which is in a Phase IIa clinical trial in patients chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus. Caspases are cellular proteases involved in processes such as apoptosis (cell death) and inflammation.
By inhibiting various caspases, it may be possible to slow or stop the progression of fibrosis in the liver for patients with chronic viral hepatitis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), as well as potentially in other fibrotic diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).