Potentia Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotechnology company developing medicines for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), announced today that it has entered into licensing and purchase option agreements with Alcon Research, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alcon, Inc. (NYSE: ACL).
The agreements provide Alcon with a license to develop Potentia's leading drug candidate, POT-4, for the treatment of AMD. The agreements also provide for Alcon to acquire the shares of Potentia if specified development milestones are achieved and if Alcon elects to continue development of POT-4.
Alcon will make upfront payments to Potentia for the initial license and option rights. The agreements also provide for potential future payments to Potentia's shareholders based on the achievement of multiple clinical and global regulatory approval milestones for several therapeutic indications and on Alcon's decision to proceed with development. They also provide for sales-based royalty payments to Potentia's shareholders on any products that are ultimately approved and commercialized. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Alcon is the proven leader in the clinical development and marketing of eye care products and compounds. We could not wish for a better company to develop POT-4 into a new treatment option for the millions of patients with macular degeneration," said Cedric Francois, President and CEO of Potentia Pharmaceuticals.
POT-4 was the first complement inhibitor to enter the clinic for ophthalmological use and is being developed as a potential treatment for both dry and wet AMD. Potentia has completed a Phase I trial for POT-4 in patients with wet AMD. The trial was designed to determine the safety and tolerability of an intravitreal injection of POT-4, as well as its stability and depot-forming properties. In the study investigators observed only minimal and mild local adverse events related to the injection with no serious adverse events related the drug itself. The study also found that POT-4 deposits form at doses of 450 microgram and greater and that the higher the concentration was the longer the deposits lasted.
"There is a body of science supporting the potential for complement inhibitors in the treatment of retinal disease," said Sabri Markabi, MD, Alcon's senior vice president of research and development and chief medical officer. "Although at a very early stage, Potentia has developed the first complement inhibitor for age-related macular degeneration and positioned it for Phase II trials and we look forward to carrying development forward with the goal of treating patients with AMD."
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