Under the terms of the agreement, Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTI) will receive license fees, together with milestone payments on the achievement of predetermined development goals, royalties on sales of the product, as well as a minority ownership in DiaKine.
DiaKine will assume responsibility for all costs related to the development of Lisofylline (LSF) in diabetes, as well as costs associated with maintaining the licensed patents. CTI retains all rights to develop LSF for non-diabetes applications, including applications in oncology.
“This agreement allows DiaKine to maximize the potential of LSF in diabetes while CTI maintains its focus on developing and commercializing cancer products, an area where we have a lot of expertise,” stated Dr James Bianco, president and CEO of CTI.
DiaKine is currently in discussions with venture capital firms regarding funding for phase II trials in indications associated with type 1 diabetes and for developing additional applications for LSF and select analogs.
LSF is a synthetic small molecule with novel anti-inflammatory properties. It can effectively prevent type 1 diabetes in pre-clinical models and improves the function and viability of isolated or transplanted pancreatic islets.