Urogen Pharma Announces Agreement To License Rtgel For Use With Neurotoxins To Allergan
RAANANA, Israel, Oct. 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UroGen Pharma (“UroGen”), a privately-held, clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced today that it has completed an agreement to license worldwide rights to UroGen’s RTGelTM delivery system technology for use with neurotoxins to Allergan plc.
RTGel™ has thermo-sensitive properties that enable it to convert from a liquid state when cold, into a gel once it reaches body temperature. This allows increased residence time of drugs when mixed with the gel and instilled in the bladder. Allergan has agreed to make an upfront payment of $17.5 million, as well as potential development and commercial milestones and royalties on net sales.
Ron Bentsur, CEO of UroGen Pharma, said, “We are excited about this licensing deal. We believe that Allergan is the ideal partner for the RTGel™ technology. Under Allergan’s robust BOTOX and uro-neurological development and commercial expertise, RTGel™ has the potential to become an important innovation for patients suffering from OAB and related conditions.” Mr. Bentsur continued, “We are proud of the accomplishments of our team at UroGen and believe that this deal is a testament to our in-house research and drug development capabilities.”
Arie Belldegrun, M.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors of UroGen Pharma, added, “This important collaboration with Allergan, a world leading pharmaceutical company, highlights UroGen’s commitment to discover and develop new therapies for urological diseases with unmet clinical needs. We remain excited about our ongoing pipeline, including the upcoming uro-oncology phase III clinical trial of MitoGel for the treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma.”
About Allergan plc
Allergan plc (AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model – Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, devices and biologic products for patients around the world.
Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women’s health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.
Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, the Company’s R&D model, which defines their approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. This approach has led to Allergan building one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 65+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs in development.
With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives.
For more information, visit Allergan’s website at www.Allergan.com.
About Overactive Bladder and RTGel™
Overactive Bladder (OAB) is a common, often disabling condition associated with considerable negative impact on quality of life. OAB results in an uncontrolled urge to urinate, frequent urination and, in many patients, uncontrollable leakage of urine. Standard first line treatment for OAB is anticholinergic pills, however, the majority of the patients stop taking the pills within one year due to an inadequate response to, or intolerance of, the medication. BOTOX injection into the bladder is approved as second line therapy for OAB and is considered an effective therapeutic option.
Over 30 million in the US alone and 200 million worldwide suffer from this burdensome disease.
About UroGen Pharma
UroGen Pharma is a clinical stage biotechnology company providing advanced non-surgical, local treatments to address unmet needs in the field of urology, with a focus on uro-oncology. The company has developed RTGel™, a proprietary sustained release, hydrogel-based formulation for potentially improving the efficacy and safety profiles of existing drugs. UroGen Pharma’s sustained release technology enables longer exposure of the urinary tract tissue to medications, making local therapy a potentially more effective treatment option. UroGen’s lead product candidates, MitoGel and VesiGel, are designed to potentially remove tumors by non-surgical means, to treat several forms of non-muscle invasive urothelial cancer, including low-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma, or UTUC, and bladder cancer. UroGen Pharma is headquartered in Israel and also maintains a corporate office in New York City.
