Sarepta Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company focused on RNA-targeted therapeutics, has formed a collaboration with Summit Therapeutics, an Oxfordshire, UK-based biopharmaceutical company, which grants Sarepta rights in Europe, Turkey, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to Summit’s utrophin modulator pipeline, including its lead clinical candidate, ezutromid, for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The CIS includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.

Under the agreement, Summit will receive an upfront fee of $40 million and will be eligible for future ezutromid-related development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments totaling up to $522 million, including a $22 million milestone upon the first dosing of the last patient in Summit’s DMD trial and escalating royalties ranging from a low-to-high teens percentage of net sales in the licensed territory. Summit will also be eligible to receive development and regulatory milestones related to its utrophin modulators. Sarepta and Summit will share specified utrophin modulator-related research and development costs at a 45%:55% split, respectively, beginning in 2018.

Sarepta obtains an option to license Latin American rights to Summit’s utrophin modulator pipeline while Summit retains commercialization rights in all other countries. If Sarepta elects to exercise its option for Latin American rights, Summit would be entitled to additional fees, milestones, and royalties.

Utrophin modulation is a potential disease-modifying treatment for patients with DMD, regardless of their underlying dystrophin gene mutation. Ezutromid is currently in a Phase II clinical trial.

Source: Sarepta Therapeutics