Camurus, Braeburn Pharmaceutical Ink Licensing Deal Worth Up To $151 Million
November 21, 2014
By Jessica Wilson, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Braeburn Pharmaceutical has licensed Camurus’s CAM2038 for the treatment of opioid addiction and pain in a deal that could eventually be worth $151 million, the two companies announced yesterday. Princeton, N.J.-based Braeburn now has exclusive rights to CAM2038 in North America and option rights in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, while Switzerland-based Camurus retains all other global rights.
Under the terms of the deal, Braeburn will pay an upfront fee to Camurus of $20 million, and milestone payments of $35 million and $21 million. Under the agreement, Camurus is also eligible for royalties on Braeburn products sales, which could yield up to $75 million in sales milestones.
“Our combined efforts will expedite development of important treatment alternatives in opioid dependence and pain management that could minimize risks of misuse and diversion," Fredrik Tiberg, president and CEO of Camurus, said in a statement from the two companies.
Camurus includes all of its weekly and monthly subcutaneous buprenorphine injection products in the CAM2038 designation. The products are based on the company’s nanoscale FluidCrystal delivery system, which is designed for easy drug administration via subcutaneous, low-volume injections intended to provide stable therapeutic plasma levels of buprenorphine over one week or one month. The idea behind the products is to relieve the burden of daily medication and to place drug administration in the hands of healthcare professionals, which would have the added benefit of minimizing risks of abuse, diversion and exposure to children.
Camurus has conducted Phase I and II studies on CAM2038. The Swiss drug maker and Braeburn are currently preparing for a Phase III study to assess CAM2038 as an effective treatment for opioid dependence. They plan to begin registration for the Phase III trials in 2015, and expect to submit applications for approval to both the U.S. and European Union regulatory agencies in 2016.
Braeburn and Camurus will also seek to develop CAM2038 as a pain management treatment because buprenorphine drugs have been proven effective for pain. “These medications have the potential to change the treatment paradigms for opioid dependence and pain management, providing physicians with significant dosing flexibility to help meet the needs of each patient,” said Behshad Sheldon, president and CEO of Braeburn Pharmaceuticals.
He also noted that this deal marks a new strategic direction toward pain management for Braeburn. “This agreement reaffirms Braeburn's commitment to the field of addiction medicine and allows us to broaden our focus to the related area of pain management,” he said.