Idorsia considers sophisticated partnerships to strategically access technologies or products, and to maximize the value of our discovery engine and clinical pipeline. In general, the purposes of our partnerships are to:
- Complement internal innovation with external projects
- Find suitable partners for maximizing the value of internal projects
Collaboration Agreement with Janssen Biotech
On December 1, 2017, Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen), one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, entered into a collaboration agreement with Idorsia to jointly develop and commercialize aprocitentan and any of its derivative compounds or products.
Idorsia received a one-time milestone payment of USD 230 million. Both parties have joint development rights over aprocitentan. Idorsia will oversee the Phase 3 development and regulatory submission for the treatment of patients with hypertension that is not controlled by at least three therapies (called resistant hypertension in the medical community). The costs will be shared equally between both partners. Janssen will oversee the Phase 3 development and submission for any additional indications.
Revenue Sharing Agreement with Johnson & Johnson
Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, J&J and Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd have entered into the Revenue Sharing Agreement in respect to ponesimod. Under the terms of the Revenue Sharing Agreement, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd is entitled to receive quarterly payments of 8% of the net sales of ponesimod products from Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Collaboration Agreement with ReveraGen
In April 2016, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd signed a collaborative agreement with ReveraGen to research and co-develop vamorolone, a non-hormonal steroid modulator for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (“DMD”). This collaborative agreement, including all rights and obligations, was transferred to Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Consequently, Idorsia will be entitled to exercise an option to obtain the exclusive worldwide license rights on vamorolone at any time, but not later than upon receipt of the Phase 2b study results for a consideration of USD 45 million. If the option is exercised, ReveraGen will be entitled to receive milestone payments up to USD 120 million for the approval and commercialization in the DMD indication, and up to USD 190 million in three additional indications. Furthermore, Idorsia will pay increasing tiered double-digit royalties on the net sales of vamorolone and will support R&D activities up to a maximum amount of USD 1 million per annum until mid-2019, unless earlier terminated or extended.
Research collaboration with Roche
Idorsia has entered into a research collaboration that provides Roche with an exclusive option right to develop and market first-in-class compounds for a promising new approach in the field of cancer immunotherapy.
The parties will collaborate on the discovery of products through the formation of a joint committee, chaired by Idorsia.
Roche has paid Idorsia an upfront payment of CHF 15 million and has the option to exclusively license Idorsia compounds and compounds resulting from the collaboration, for a further payment of CHF 35 million, after a pre-determined period. After the exercise of its option right, Roche would have the exclusive worldwide right to develop and commercialize the Idorsia and collaboration compounds.
Idorsia will be eligible to receive one-time development and regulatory milestones of up to CHF 410 million. Idorsia will also be entitled to one-time milestones based on sales thresholds, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales of all products resulting from the collaboration.
Equity stake in Vaxxilon AG
In 2015, Actelion established Vaxxilon as a new majority owned company which aims to discover, develop, and commercialize synthetic carbohydrate vaccines. Vaxxilon was incorporated under the laws of Switzerland together with the Max Planck Society, a publicly funded non-profit organization in Munich, Germany, and Seeberger Science GmbH, a private company in Kleinmachnow, Germany. Actelion was the principal investor and majority shareholder, holding a 73.9% equity stake of the company. Vaxxilon has licensed exclusive rights to multiple preclinical vaccine candidates and additional technologies from MPI.
The equity stake of 73.9% as well as all rights and obligations in connection with Vaxxilon were transferred to Idorsia. Consequently, Idorsia is committed to provide funding of up to the CHF equivalent of EUR 10 million to Vaxxilon, contingent upon successful completion of predefined clinical and development milestones and will be released over an estimated period of two to three years.