The Hindu Business Line : Glenmark buys two antibodies from Canada’s Chromos

Mumbai, July 19 Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has purchased two New biological Entities (NBE) from Canada-based Chromos Molecular Systems Inc for an undisclosed sum.

The two humanized monoclonal therapeutic antibodies are CHR-1103, a broad anti inflammatory agent with a novel mechanism to treat multiple sclerosis and CHR-1201, an anti-thrombolytic humanized monoclonal antibody targeting acute stroke.

The dealadds to Glenmark’s kitty of six prospective molecules. The company plans to take the product upto Phase I trials, where the prospective molecule is tested on healthy volunteers . Subsequently, Glenmark will scout for a partner to out-license the product, said Mr Glenn Saldanha, Managing Director of Glenmark .

Milestone payments

Out-licensing has been the strategy followed by the company with its earlier prospective asthma and diabetes molecules, and it has been paying off, Mr Saldanha said. The company has earned about $60 million in milestone payments this year, he said. “And we will continue to look for out-licensing deals in the monoclonal antibodies area.” . Last year, the company got $31 million in milestone payments.

The company expects to get a milestone payment of about $30 million “anytime now”, from a deal with US-based Forest Laboratories for its prospective asthma drug. After out-licensing deal in the US and Japan, the company is looking for a partner in Europe .

The company is expecting at least two out-licensing deals this year on any of the four of the total six small molecules , he said. Its diabetes molecule was licensed out last year to Germany’s Merck KGaA for the North America, Europe and Japan.

Chromos deal

The deal with Chromos was done through Glenmark Pharmaceuticals SA., the wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary of the Mumbai-based company.Glenmark has purchased all rights to the two products as well as rights to use Chromos proprietary ACE system technology for cell line development . It also holds the worldwide all global rights of these products, he said. The products would be developed at Glenmark’s Swiss-based research centre that has about 30 people.

Chromos had put the biological products on the block to tide over bankruptcy, an industry representative said, indicating that Glenmark did not pay a high price to acquire the biological products. Glenmark has made an upfront payment to Chromos and will have to make a milestone payment when the product enters Phase I trials.

Glenmark plans to initiate Phase I clinical trials in 2008 and complete Phase I on CHR-1103 by March 2009. For CHR-1201, Glenmark plans to start Phase I by March 2009.

Earlier this year, Glenmark had signed a deal with Dyax in the oncology and anti-inflammation segment, marking its entry into biologics. Two products from this deal are expected to go into clinical trials in 2009 and 2010, he said. Glenmark shares closed 1.72 percent higher on the BSE, at Rs 711.80.