Ono and Equillium Announce Exclusive Option and Asset Purchase Agreement for the Development and Commercialization of Itolizumab
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; President and CEO, Gyo Sagara; “Ono”) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive option and asset purchase agreement with Equillium Inc. (La Jolla, CA, U.S.; President and CEO, Bruce D. Steel; “Equillium”), regarding Equillium’s rights to itolizumab, a first-in-class anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody.
Itolizumab is currently in a Phase 3 study for patients with acute graft-versus-host disease and in a Phase 1b study for patients with lupus nephritis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ono will pay to Equillium a non-refundable upfront payment of ¥3.5 billion and up to an aggregate of approximately ¥18 billion for exercise of the option and development milestone payments. Equillium will be responsible for the conduct of all research and development of itolizumab through the option period, which will be fully reimbursed by Ono. Upon exercise of the option, Ono will receive the Equillium’s rights to itolizumab. These rights include all therapeutic indications and the rights to commercialize itolizumab in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
“We believe this collaboration with Equillium reinforces our commitment to research and development and creating innovative therapeutics in immunology,” said Gyo Sagara, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ono. “We are very pleased to be partnering with Equillium to develop a novel medicine for patients with difficult-to-treat immuno-inflammatory disorders. We hope that itolizumab will serve as our foundation for expanding our business in the United States and pave the way for becoming a global specialty pharmaceutical company.”
“We are very pleased to partner itolizumab with Ono, a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company dedicated to fighting disease and pain,” said Bruce Steel, Chief Executive Officer at Equillium. “This strategic partnership validates the potential of itolizumab to address autoimmune and immuno-inflammatory disorders for patients in significant need of new therapies. Through this partnership we have secured the resources necessary to continue advancing our Phase 3 EQUATOR study of itolizumab in the treatment of first-line acute graft-versus-host disease, a severe life-threatening disease, and our ongoing EQUALISE study in lupus nephritis. Based on our current operating plan we expect this strategic partnership will enable us to fund operations into 2025, enabling us to advance our wholly-owned pipeline of multi-cytokine inhibitors through multiple key milestones, including our ongoing Phase 2 study of EQ101 in alopecia areata and Phase 1 study of EQ102 in celiac disease.”
The impact of this matter on the Company’s consolidated financial results for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, is expected to be minor. Should there be any events to be disclosed in the future, we will announce them in a timely manner.
About Itolizumab
Itolizumab is a clinical-stage, first-in-class anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody that selectively targets the CD6-ALCAM pathway. This pathway plays a central role in modulating the activity and trafficking of T cells that drive a number of immuno-inflammatory diseases. Equillium acquired rights to itolizumab through an exclusive partnership with Biocon Limited.
About Equillium, Inc.
Equillium is a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging a deep understanding of immunobiology to develop novel therapeutics to treat severe autoimmune and inflammatory disorders with high unmet medical need. The company’s pipeline consists of the following novel immunomodulatory assets targeting immuno-inflammatory pathways. Itolizumab, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody that targets the CD6-ALCAM signaling pathway which plays a central role in the modulation of effector T cells, is currently in a Phase 3 study for patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and is in a Phase 1b study for patients with lupus/lupus nephritis. EQ101 is a first-in-class tri-specific cytokine inhibitor that selectively targets IL-2, IL-9, and IL-15. Equillium is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study of EQ101 for patients with alopecia areata. EQ102 is a bi-specific cytokine inhibitor that selectively targets IL-15 and IL-21. Equillium is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 1 study of EQ102, including healthy volunteers and celiac disease patients.
For more information, visit www.equilliumbio.com .