Ferring Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, has acquired exclusive development and commercialization rights to condoliase, a potential injection treatment for lumbar disc herniation by Seikagaku Corporation, a Tokyo-based pharmaceuticals company focused on glycoscience. The companies signed an exclusive worldwide license agreement (excluding Japan) for the compound. The agreement is based on a letter of intent concluded on June 15, 2016.

Under the agreement, Seikagaku will receive an upfront payment of $5 million and milestone payments up to a maximum total of $90 million over multiple years upon future progress in development and commercialization. Seikagaku has been developing condoliase in Japan and the US. In the US, Seikagaku is conducting two Phase III clinical trials. In Japan, Seikagaku submitted a new drug application to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan in January 2014, and it is now under review. On December 25, 2012 Seikagaku and Tokyo-based Kaken Pharmaceutical concluded an exclusive distributorship agreement in Japan for the product.

Source: Seikagaku Corporation