Lundbeck and Paion extend stroke licensing agreement

Danish pharmaceutical firm H. Lundbeck is paying Paion €1.5m upfront as part of the firms’expansion to their current licensing agreement covering development of Paion’s ischemic stroke candidate, desmoteplase.

Danish pharmaceutical firm H. Lundbeck is paying Paion €1.5m (about US$2.1m) upfront as part of the firms’ expansion to their current licensing agreement covering development of Paion’s ischemic stroke candidate, desmoteplase.

The new deal gives Lundbeck worldwide (excluding the US) rights to develop and commercialise potential follow-on desmoteplase compounds identified by Paion.

Paion, a German biopharmaceutical firm based in Aachen and with a second site in Cambridge, UK, could receive up to €25m in milestones if one of the second-generation compounds reaches clinical development, plus double-digit sales royalties.

Desmoteplase is a plasminogen activator derived from a clot-dissolving protein found in the saliva of the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus. The drug is in development for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Lundbeck acquired worldwide rights to desmoteplase from Paion in 2008, having held global non-US rights to the drug since 2005. Desmoteplas