XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ:XOMA), the leading company in the development and discovery of therapeutic antibodies is to work together with Novo Nordisk for the XMetA program in diabetes. Xoma has announced that it has given an exclusive license to Novo Nordisk A/S authorizing the latter with global development and commercialization rights of the XMetA program. The program is dedicated to allosteric monoclonal antibodies that up-regulate the insulin receptor.
Terms of Agreement
The terms of the agreement give XOMA the right to retain the commercialization of rare disease indications. However, Novo Nordisk also has an option to add these rights to its license. Nova Nordisk will pay $5.0 million to XOMA in the form of an upfront payment. The agreement also includes potential additional development, commercial milestones and regulatory payment of around $290.0 million. Moreover, XOMA will also receive the tiered royalties on the sale of the products.
Nova Nordisk Can Further Develop XOMA’s Activators
According to the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice-President at XOMA, Jim Neal, Novo Nordisk, being the leader in the development of therapies used for treating diabetes mellitus can further develop his company’s first-in-class insulin receptor activators. The scientists of XOMA have discovered these activators.
He further said that the strategy of the company is to come up with new therapeutics for the various endocrine diseases, especially those belonging to rare categories. XOMA has been successful in structuring an agreement with Novo Nordisk that allows it to retain the commercialization rights.
XOMA Scientists Identify Novel Method to Treat Type 2 Diabetes
The scientists of XOMA studied the insulin receptor and have successfully come up with the novel method of treating the type 2 diabetes mellitus. This discovery stimulated the development of XMetA program that includes a series of fully human, novel, allosteric monoclonal, high-affinity antibodies with the ability to restrain the insulin receptor partially. In the past few years, the XOMA scientists have made a great progress to unravel the pharmacology of the compounds involved in the program.
According to Paul Rubin, M.D., Research, Development, Chief Medical Officer, and Senior Vice President at XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ:XOMA), the Vitro data has revealed that the program mimics the glucose regulatory functions of the insulin, excluding its mitogenic actions.