POXEL Announces Patent Access Agreement With Enyo Pharma

LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--POXEL SA (Euronext – POXEL - FR0012432516), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative drugs to treat type 2 diabetes, today announced a second agreement with ENYO Pharma SA, by which Enyo accesses a key patent on the use of FXR technology to develop treatments for hepatitis B. The FXR Agonist technology was discovered and patented by Poxel together with academic partners represented by Inserm Transfert and the Lyon-based company EDELRIS. Inserm Transfert has been appointed to represent all parties in the patent agreement with Enyo. Enyo and Poxel signed a license agreement, which was announced May 6, 2015, on Poxel’s FXR Agonist program for infection-related indications. No financial terms of either agreement have been disclosed.

“This agreement recognizes Poxel’s scientific insight in FXR agonists and allows the company to gain value for discoveries applicable outside our focus on type 2 diabetes. We are pleased to see Enyo further advance the FXR Agonist program”

“This agreement recognizes Poxel’s scientific insight in FXR agonists and allows the company to gain value for discoveries applicable outside our focus on type 2 diabetes. We are pleased to see Enyo further advance the FXR Agonist program,” commented Thomas Kuhn, CEO of Poxel.

About FXR

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR), also known as bile acid receptor, is a member of a nuclear receptor superfamily and has a role in multiple metabolic pathways and especially in controlling the fate of bile acids in the liver and the intestine. It has also been reported to influence insulin sensitivity of these tissues where it is expressed at high levels. The Inserm team founder of Enyo has identified FXR as a direct regulator of hepatitis B virus replication and has shown the dependency of the virus life cycle on the bile acids pathway. Modulating FXR becomes therefore a promising new therapeutic avenue to control and potentially cure chronic hepatitis B, which is one of the world leading causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

About Poxel

Poxel uses its unique development expertise in metabolism to advance a pipeline of truly novel products currently focused on type 2 diabetes. Our first-in-class lead product, Imeglimin, targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, has successfully completed Phase 2 development in the US and EU and has entered clinical development in Japanese subjects. We are advancing our second program, PXL770, a direct AMPK activator, through clinical proof-of-concept. We will generate further growth through strategic partnerships and pipeline development. (Euronext: POXEL, www.poxel.com)