Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA) and OncoGenex
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) announced today that they have
entered into a global license and collaboration agreement to develop and
commercialize OGX-011, as well as an agreement to purchase shares in
OncoGenex. OGX-011 is a Phase III cancer therapy designed to inhibit
cancer treatment resistance. OGX-011 is expected to be used as adjunct
therapy to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and has shown
promising results when added to currently available chemotherapies in
several tumor types addressing a significant unmet medical need.
“We see OGX-011 as a key component of our branded oncology medicines
franchise, expanding our pipeline of existing oncology therapeutics and
broadening the future available therapies made by Teva for oncology
patients and care providers”
The agreement will further enhance Teva’s oncology offerings and
strengthen its global branded product pipeline with a promising product
candidate entering three Phase III trials involving large patient
populations. Teva and OncoGenex will collaborate on a global Phase III
clinical program, with two Phase III clinical trials expected to be
initiated in 2010: a Phase III Study for Second-line Chemotherapy in Men
with Metastatic Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC) and a Phase
III Study in First-Line Chemotherapy for Metastatic CRPC. An additional
Phase III Study in First-Line Treatment of Advanced, Unresectable
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is intended to be initiated by early
2011.
Under the terms of the collaboration and share purchase agreements, Teva
will provide OncoGenex with a $60 million initial cash payment, which
includes a $10 million equity investment in OncoGenex common stock at a
price of $37.38 per share, upfront payment of $20 million and prepayment
of $30 million for OncoGenex’s contribution to the development costs of
OGX-011. OncoGenex will be eligible to receive up to $370 million in
additional cash payments upon achievement of various milestones,
including regulatory milestones and sales targets. In addition,
OncoGenex will receive tiered royalties on sales of the product with the
royalty percentage ranging from the mid-teens to the mid-twenties,
depending upon the amount of net sales. Teva is responsible for
all commercialization and development expenses. OncoGenex retains an
option to co-promote OGX-011 in the U.S. and Canada.