On a Roll, AstraZeneca PLC Licenses Respiratory Drug to Insmed in $150 Million Deal

On a Roll, AstraZeneca PLC Licenses Respiratory Drug to Insmed in $150 Million Deal October 5, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – Shares of Insmed Incorporated are on the rise this morning after the company announced it struck a $150 million deal to acquire global rights to an experimental respiratory drug from AstraZeneca —a company that has been unloading a number of early-stage treatments of late.

Insmed bought rights to AZD7986, a novel oral inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase I. DPP1 is an enzyme that catalyzes the activation of neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs), which play a key role in pulmonary diseases such as non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, Insmed said in a statement this morning. Under the terms of the agreement, Insmed will pay AstraZeneca an upfront payment of $30 million. AstraZeneca will be eligible to receive future payments totaling $120 million in future clinical, regulatory, and sales-related milestones. AstraZeneca would also be entitled to receive tiered royalties ranging from a high single-digit to mid-teen. In addition, the agreement provides AstraZeneca with the option to negotiate a future agreement with Insmed for commercialization of AZD7986/INS1007 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma.

Will Lewis, president and chief executive officer of Insmed, called AZD7986, which the company has renamed INS1007, a perfect and complementary addition to the company’s “expertise on rare pulmonary diseases.” The company said it will explore the drug’s potential in treating non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a rare, progressive, neutrophil-driven pulmonary disorder in which the bronchi become permanently dilated due to chronic inflammation and infection. Bronchiectasis increases susceptibility to nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease, and up to 50 percent of patients with bronchiectasis may also have an active NTM infection, the company said.

"Because NTM lung disease and bronchiectasis often co-exist, we can readily leverage our existing relationships with physician experts around the world who are eagerly awaiting new treatment options. We continue to expect patient enrollment in our phase 3 study of ARIKAYCE to conclude later this year and to report top line data in 2017. We expect that when approved, ARIKAYCE and INS1007 will allow us to provide great value to the patients who are living with NTM lung disease and bronchiectasis, as well as the physicians who treat them."

In preclinical studies, AZD7986 was shown to effectively and reversibly inhibit DPP1 and the activation of NSPs within maturing neutrophils. Insmed is completing its plans for a phase II study in non-CF bronchiectasis. The study is expected to begin in 2017.

The company said there are approximately two million people worldwide with non-CF bronchiectasis, including 110,000 patients in the United States. There is currently no cure for non-CF bronchiectasis.

Insmed is currently advancing a global Phase III clinical study of ARIKAYCE (liposomal amikacin for inhalation) in NTM lung disease. Insmed has also completed a Phase II study of ARIKAYCE for the treatment of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in non-CF bronchiectasis.

Maarten Kraan, head of AstraZeneca’s respiratory and inflammation division, said Insmed was a company that has the “expertise and experience” to take the experimental drug through the clinic and possibly bring it to market.

London-based AstraZeneca has been making multiple deals licensing experimental treatments to other companies so it can focus on cancer treatments.

On Tuesday, AstraZeneca sold the U.S. rights to Toprol-XL and its authorized generic to Canadian-based Aralez for $175 million. Toprol-XL, a cardioselective beta-blocker, is used for the treatment of hypertension alone or in combination with other antihypertensives.

On Monday, AstraZeneca struck a $1.5 billion licensing deal with Allergan for MEDI2070, an IL-23 monoclonal antibody that is presently in a Phase IIb trial for moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease.

While AstraZeneca sold off its experimental pulmonary drug, the company recently revealed positive results from its Phase III trial of its new asthma drug, benralizumab. The drug demonstrated significant reductions in the annual asthma exacerbation rate compared to placebo. Benralizumab, if approved, will be one more step in AstraZeneca bolstering its respiratory pipeline. Earlier this year, the company struck a $575 million deal with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company to acquire that company’s core respiratory business, including global rights to roflumilast, a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Back to news