Bayer HealthCare licenses new thrombosis therapy from Isis

Bayer HealthCare has agreed an exclusive license agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals pertaining to the development of a new treatment for thrombosis.

The deal will give Bayer the rights to further develop and commercialise ISIS-FXIRx, an antisense drug in clinical development for the prevention of thrombosis, for areas of high unmet medical need.

Specifically, the company plans to evaluate the therapeutic profile of this compound in patients for whom currently available anticoagulants may not be used, such as those with a high risk of bleeding due to multiple comorbidities.

Under the terms of the agreement, Isis is eligible to receive up to $155 million (102.17 million pounds) in near-term payments, plus future milestone-based fees.

Dr Joerg Moeller, member of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee and head of global development, said: "This first-in-class FXI inhibitor perfectly complements our in-house thrombosis pipeline and is an innovative development candidate for a variety of anticoagulation needs."

Dynamic sales growth for the company's pharmaceuticals division in the first quarter of 2015 helped the Bayer group as a whole to achieve a double-digit sales increase during the period.