Biogen Idec signs partnership agreement for lixivaptan development

Biogen Idec signs partnership agreement for lixivaptan development

Biogen Idec has signed a partnership agreement with Cardiokine for the development of lixivatapan as a treatment for hyponatremia in patients suffering from congestive heart failure.

According to the terms of the deal, Biogen Idec will pay Cardiokine an initial fee of $50 million (25 million pounds), with a further $170 million to be paid on the attainment of specific development and marketing landmarks for the compound.

Responsibility for the marketing of the drug globally will lie with Biogen Idec, though Cardiokine has a limited co-promotion option within the US. The agreement is subject to certain approvals and closing conditions and is expected to be in place during the third quarter of this year.

Lixivaptan is an orally-administered selective V2 vasopressin receptor antagonist that has showed potential in the treatment of sodium and water imbalances in the body. It is due to enter phase III clinical studies during 2007.

James C Mullen, president and chief executive officer of Biogen Idec, said: “With this late-stage oral compound, we continue to leverage our global development and speciality market expertise to grow our business and broaden our therapeutic focus.

“An effective treatment for hyponatremia could be beneficial to patients with a variety of diseases, including heart failure.”

He added that the company anticipated working with Cardiokine to help deliver a new treatment option for congestive heart failure patients and expand the company’s efforts in the field of cardiovascular care.

Earlier this week, the chief financial officer of Biogen Idec Peter Kellogg announced his decision to move to Merck, Sharp and Dohme.