OliX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading developer of RNAi therapeutics, announced a collaboration with Théa Open Innovation, a sister company of Laboratoires Théa S.A.S (“Théa”), the leading independent pharmaceutical company in Europe dedicated to ophthalmology, to develop OliX’ lead pipeline products OLX301A and OLX301D in Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and subretinal fibrosis along two other ophthalmic pipelines upon exercise of the option. As a part of the collaborative agreement, Théa will have worldwide rights excluding Asia-Pacific for four programs.
Théa will pay OliX an additional upfront payment of €8.8 million, as well as development and commercialization milestones depending on the progression of the two AMD programs and the triggering of the option. This licensing deal is a continuation of an earlier licensing agreement between the two Companies in 2019, where Théa gained rights to OLX301A program in the EU, Middle East and Africa.
“Having begun our work with Théa in 2019, we are pleased to continue and expand this successful collaboration,” said Dong Ki Lee, Ph.D., founder and Chief Executive Officer of OliX Pharmaceuticals. “We look forward to working side by side with Théa to leverage our proprietary asiRNA platform, utilizing OLX301A and OLX301D to bring our ophthalmic RNAi programs to the clinic. We are also excited at the prospect of collaborating on additional pipeline products for ophthalmic diseases.”
OLX301A is OliX Pharmaceuticals’ first-in-class therapeutic that targets both wet AMD and dry AMD. OLX301D is also first-in-class therapeutic currently in development for both wet AMD and subretinal fibrosis. Both utilize OliX’ proprietary and novel siRNA therapeutic platform to target diseased tissue.
“We are thrilled to partner with OliX Pharmaceuticals and look forward to utilizing our complementary capabilities in ophthalmology to make an impact in AMD and other eye diseases across the world,” said Jean-Frédéric Chibret, President of Laboratoires Théa. “We’ve had a very successful collaboration for more than a year and are impressed with the speed and agility of OliX Pharmaceuticals’ work in developing novel siRNA therapeutics to target diseased tissues. Together, we are committed to advancing RNAi therapy to provide clinical solutions to diseases of the eye. This extension of our current agreement is in line with our commitment to enter in the field of retina, and to build a strong pipeline for the European and US market.
Asymmetric small interfering RNA
Asymmetric small interfering RNA (asiRNA) is the next generation of RNAi therapeutics that offers efficient gene regulation. In comparison to existing siRNA therapeutics, OliX Pharmaceutical’s asiRNA shows comparable gene silencing and significantly reduce siRNA-mediated side effects such as off-target gene silencing and immune stimulation.
OliX Pharmaceuticals
OliX Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics against a variety of disorders by down-regulating expression of disease-causing genes, based on its own proprietary RNAi technology. The Company’s core RNAi platform, asymmetric siRNA (asiRNA), is a unique gene silencing technology based on RNA interference (RNAi), which is considered as the most efficient gene silencing technology. Based on asiRNA technology, OliX has developed cell penetrating asiRNA (cp-asiRNA), a therapeutic RNAi platform to effectively target locally administrable diseases, such as hypertrophic scar, dry and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), subretinal fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and neuropathic pain. OliX has also developed another therapeutic RNAi platform, GalNAc-asiRNA, to target a variety of liver diseases.
