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HCV Therapy: TT-033, novel RNA interference product
Oncolys and Tacere partner in hepatitis C drug development
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13th March 2008
By Staff Writer
http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com
Oncolys BioPharma and Tacere Therapeutics have entered into a strategic alliance and license agreement to develop and commercialize throughout Asia, Tacere's RNA interference-based hepatitis C virus compound, TT-033.
This agreement resulted from the strategic alliance entered into by Tacere and Oncolys in June 2007, whereby Oncolys was granted an option to acquire the Asian rights for TT-033. Under the terms of the agreement, Oncolys and Tacere will form a joint steering committee that will work with the Tacere and Pfizer steering committee to oversee preclinical R&D efforts for TT-033 (code-named by Oncolys as OBP-701).
In addition to an up-front payment, Tacere will be eligible to receive milestone payments through successful achievement of development, approval, and commercialization milestones resulting in total potential payments to Tacere of up to $60 million. Upon commercialization of TT-033, Tacere would be entitled to receive royalties on net sales by Oncolys.
Further, if Oncolys sublicenses its rights under the strategic alliance to any major pharmaceutical company, the milestone payments and sales royalties Oncolys receives will be shared with Tacere at predetermined rates based upon the stage of development at which the milestones occur.
Oncolys BioPharma and Tacere Therapeutics to develop hepatitis C drug
22nd June 2007
By Staff Writer
http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com
Oncolys BioPharma and Tacere Therapeutics have entered into a strategic alliance to develop hepatitis C drug TT-033.
Under this agreement, Oncolys has been granted an option to acquire the Asian rights for TT-033, a novel RNA interference (RNAi) based product for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV), which Oncolys will market as OBP-701. Further, Oncolys has made an equity investment in Tacere of an undisclosed amount.
"Regarding HCV, there are still many patients who have no meaningful cure and there is a definite need for new drugs that are both effective and safe. We believe that OBP-701/TT-033 will enable us to offer new treatments for patients suffering from HCV," said Yasuo Urata, president and CEO of Oncolys.
TT-033 is a novel therapeutic product containing three separate RNAi elements entrapped in an AAV protein coat. The companies say AAV delivery methods have demonstrated clinical safety and the ability to penetrate hepatocytes (the site of HCV replication) at high levels following a single intravenous administration.
In preclinical animal studies, this "cocktail in one drug" targeted and cleaved the hepatitis C virus itself at three different sites simultaneously without toxicity. The three sequences were chosen to be effective against all genotypes of HCV. Tacere will begin IND-enabling studies on TT-033 shortly and plans to enter phase I clinical studies in late 2008.
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