BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Sept. 10 Company Quick Takes: Lexicon, Sanofi part ways on diabetes drug; plus Mesoblast-Gruenenthal, Mateon-WideTrial, Intra-Cellular

September 11, 2019 4:05 AM UTC

Sanofi to pay Lexicon $260M as Zynquista ends
Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) will pay Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX) $208 million up front plus $52 million over the next 12 months as part of the companies’ agreement to terminate their development deal for Zynquista sotagliflozin. Sanofi first announced it planned to terminate the deal in late July, citing a Phase III failure by the drug. Zynquista is approved in Europe for Type I diabetes. Lexicon said it is still planning to seek regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe for Type II diabetes. Lexicon, which announced the news after market close Tuesday, was up 26% at $2.17 in after-hours trading.

Mesoblast, Gruenenthal partner on cell therapy for degenerative disc disease
Mesoblast Ltd. (ASX:MSB; NASDAQ:MESO) granted Gruenenthal Group (Aachen, Germany) exclusive rights to commercialize allogeneic cell therapy MPC-06-ID in Europe and Latin America. Mesoblast is eligible to receive $150 million in upfront and milestone payments prior to the product’s launch; in all, Mesoblast is eligible for $1 billion in milestones, plus tiered double-digit royalties. The product is in Phase III testing to treat lower back pain caused by degenerative disc disease, with data from a U.S. Phase III trial expected in 2020. ...