Eli Lilly and TransPharma announce osteoporosis agreement

Eli Lilly has announced that it has signed licensing and development agreement with Israeli firm TransPharma Medical of relating to the company’s ViaDerm-hPTH (1-34) product for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will pay TransPharma an initial payment of $35 million (18 million pounds) and may also pay the company development and sales milestone payments and royalties on sales.

ViaDerm-hPTH (1-34) is currently in phase II of clinical development and is administered transdermally using proprietary technology from TransPharma.

Both firms will fund and be involved in continued phase II development of the compound, with Lilly taking on further development activities and those related to the commercialisation of any transdermal PTH products.

Dr Gwen Krivi, vice-president of Lilly Research Labs and global brand development platform leader for musculoskeletal and Cialis platform, said: “This agreement expands the scope of our osteoporosis program with a novel, patient-centred approach that builds upon our success with Evista and Forteo.”

She added that the deal will leverage the combined expertise of both firms to provide patients receiving PTH with an alternative to injections.

In May 2008, Lilly applied for the approval of Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) as a treatment for the management of chronic knee pain caused by osteoporosis.