Sigmoid Pharma Limited recently signed a licensing agreement with Pendopharm, a division of Pharmascience Inc., based in Montreal, Canada, for the exclusive rights to commercialize CyCol, an oral treatment for colon diseases like ulcerative colitis. The agreement between the companies is for the Canadian market, and also includes an equity investment in Sigmoid.
According to Sigmoid, CyCol uses the powerful efficacy of the known immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine in a safer format by targeting drug release towards the site of diseased tissue in the colon of patients with ulcerative colitis. The company believes that the drug will eventually reach global annual peak sales in excess of $500 million.
Sigmoid has already received an advanced payment from Pendopharm and may receive other milestone payments in the future, as well as royalties regarding net sales in Canada. Pendopharm invested five million euros in the licensing agreement, at a premium to the most recent fundraising in 2014. The grants invested will be used in the development of CyCol, which is already in its phase 3 clinical trials, as well as to enlarge Sigmoid’s manufacturing process for CyCol and its SmPill drug delivery technology.
“We believe CyCol® has significant potential to treat unmet clinical needs in ulcerative colitis and that Pendopharm, through its existing and growing franchise in the GI therapeutic area, is strongly positioned to maximize the potential of our lead product in Canada,” stated Ivan S. Coulter, CEO and founder of Sigmoid. “We are confident that this license agreement will be the first of a number of important strategic collaborations to be announced in relation not only to CyCol®, but also to the broadly-applicable SmPill drug delivery technology.”
The CEO of Pharmascience Inc. will start attending the Sigmoid board of directors meetings, and Coulter said “we are delighted to enter into this important collaboration with Pendopharm. I welcome David to the board and look forward to the expertise and insight he brings.” Goodman also showed his appreciation about the partnership and bringing CyCol to Canada, as he believes that “CyCol is a strategic fit with our GI franchise, and brings another innovative product to the Pendopharm portfolio with attractive therapeutic benefits for patients.”