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news.Apnimed has acquired the intellectual property and exclusive worldwide rights from European pharma company Desitin Arzneimittel for developing and commercialising a differentiated carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, sulthiame, targeting sleep apnoea and sleep-related breathing conditions.
The JV is focused on the development of pharmacological treatments for the complex pathology of sleep apnoea and sleep-related breathing disorders. Credit: Greg Pappas on Unsplash.
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The acquisition enables Apnimed to advance the therapy through its joint venture (JV) with Japanese pharma company, Shionogi & Co.
Desitin Arzneimittel will receive an upfront, future milestone payments, as well as royalties on sales, as part of the agreement.
The transaction also sees the JV, Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science (SASS), exploring sulthiame’s usage in addressing further sleep and breathing conditions. This includes obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS).
The JV is focused on expediting the development of pharmacological treatments for the complex pathology of sleep apnoea and sleep-related breathing disorders.
Outside the US, sulthiame was being used clinically for non-sleep-related conditions and gained approval for other medical conditions in various regions. However, it has not received approval for any use in the US.
According to Apnimed, the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, sulthiame, is tailored to stabilise breathing, a key issue for individuals with OSA.
In Europe, sulthiame has been studied in more than 300 obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) subjects across two Phase II trials, for a period of up to three months.
Apnimed CEO Larry Miller said: “This transaction represents an exciting opportunity to develop a promising new compound for OSA that is designed with a different mechanism of action from our lead programme, AD109.
“Sulthiame’s differentiated mechanistic design offers the potential to expand the reach of treatment and further accelerate the adoption of oral therapies for OSA.”
OSA is stated to be a sleep-related breathing condition, characterised by the repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep, resulting in deprivation of intermittent oxygen, and is influenced by neuromuscular dysfunction during sleep as well as predisposing anatomic abnormalities.
