Endo and Orion agree collaboration deal
Will bring forward eight drug candidates and share development costs
Endo Pharmaceuticals has agreed an r&d collaboration with Finnish pharmaceuticals firm Orion Corporation for the discovery, development and commercialisation of oncology drugs.
The companies will bring forward eight ‘discovery phase’ candidates by combining an equal number of programmes. They will co-develop the assets coming out of this collaboration and share all development costs.
Orion will have marketing rights in Europe, including Russia, while Endo will retain marketing rights for North America. The companies will pay royalties to each other on sales from their respective territories, and will together decide the most effective method of maximising sales in the rest of the world territories after Phase II and share revenues in these regions.
Endo has exercised its option to license the lead asset in this collaboration discovered at Orion, a novel androgen-receptor antagonist for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, which will be developed jointly by both companies for approval globally. It will be entering into phase one clinical trials in the near future.