Eli Lilly and Company has terminated its $570-million collaboration research and license agreement with Adocia, a Lyon, France-headquartered clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing new formulations for already approved therapeutic proteins, for the development of Adocia’s ultra-rapid insulin, BioChaperone Lispro. The rights to BioChaperone Lispro revert back to Adocia at no cost.

Adocia said it will look for a new partner for its ultra-rapid insulin product and will continue preparations for Phase III clinical trials. Lilly and Adocia entered the partnership in December 2014 to develop the insulin product for treating Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The goal of the collaboration was to develop BioChaperone Lispro for optimizing glucose levels during and after meals. The potential benefits of the ultra-rapid insulin include greater flexibility in the timing of insulin injections, lower variability of post-meal blood glucose elevations, lower rates of hypoglycemia, and better overall glucose control.

Under the December 2014 agreement, Lilly was responsible for future development, manufacturing, and commercialization of BioChaperone Lispro. The total up-front and milestone payments could have reached up to $570 million comprised of an upfront fee of $50 million, potential future payments of up to $280 million on certain development and regulatory milestones, and sales milestones up to $240 million as well as tiered sales royalties. Adocia retains the right to develop and license its insulin programs unrelated to prandial ultra-rapid insulin.

BioChaperone is Adocia’s proprietary technological platform designed to enhance the effectiveness and/or safety of therapeutic proteins. Adocia customizes BioChaperone to each protein for a given application.

Source: Adocia