Vancouver, British Columbia – January 27, 2014 – Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM.V OTCQX: SRBCF) announced today the completion of an exclusive licensing agreement with Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals (Wanbang Biopharma). Sirona Biochem will provide an exclusive license to Wanbang Biopharma to develop and commercialize Sirona’s anti-diabetic SGLT2 inhibitor in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In exchange for this license, Wanbang Biopharma will provide upfront and milestone payments of up to US$9.5M in addition to royalty payments for product sales in the PRC.
Details: In return for a robust licensing, milestone and royalty agreement, Sirona Biochem has transferred the responsibility for all funding, clinical development, regulatory requirements, manufacturing, sales and marketing of its SGLT2 inhibitor in China. Wanbang Biopharma will share all data generated through its clinical studies, significantly elevating the value of Sirona’s SGLT2 inhibitor for licensing in the rest of the world. Recent transaction values for SGLT2 Inhibitors include:
- Empagliflozin, one of a two-compound licensing deal between Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly for at one time payment of €300 million and milestone payments of €625 million.
- Dapagliflozin (Forxiga®), one of a two-compound licensing deal between Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca for upfront payment of US$100 million and milestone payments of up to US$1.25 billion
- Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca expand licensing deal of dapagliflozin to include Japan; deal estimated to bring more than US$1 billion
In China alone, more than 90 million people suffer from diabetes, and this number is increasing at an alarming rate of 20% per year.
“We are proud to work with Wanbang Biopharma in the continued development of our SGLT2 inhibitor as treatment for this global epidemic.” said Neil Belenkie, Chief Executive Officer of Sirona Biochem.
About Wanbang Biopharma
Wanbang Biopharma is a leading pharmaceutical company in China that specializes in research, production and marketing of medicines for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and endocrinology. Among domestic pharmaceutical companies, Wanbang Biopharma is one of the largest manufacturers and marketers of a comprehensive portfolio of drugs for diabetes.
Wanbang Biopharma is a subsidiary of Fosun Pharmaceutical Group (Fosun Pharma) which is listed on the Shanghai stock exchange (600196.SH) and the Hong Kong stock exchange (02196.HK). Fosun Pharma is part of Fosun Group, the leading non-state owned enterprise group in China which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange (00656.HK).
About Sirona Biochem
Sirona Biochem is a cosmetic ingredient and drug discovery company with a proprietary technology platform developed at its laboratory facility in France. The company specializes in the stabilization of carbohydrate molecules, with the goal of improving compounds’ efficacy and safety. Sirona Biochem’s compounds are patented as new chemical entities for maximum commercial protection and revenue potential. Newly developed compounds are licensed to leading companies around the world in return for licensing and milestone fees and ongoing royalty payments. TFChem, Sirona Biochem’s wholly-owned French laboratory is a recipient of multiple French national scientific awards and a European Union and French government grant. For more information visit www.sironabiochem.com.
Sirona Biochem would like to thank Eyal Harel and Wang Pu of XinTech (Bio Sciences) for their invaluable contribution to this project. www.xintechnologies.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information regarding this press release, contact:
Christopher Hopton
CFO
Sirona Biochem Corp.
Phone: 1.604.282.6064
Email: chopton@sironabiochem.com
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This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Forward-looking statements in many cases can be identified by words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “believe”, “potential” or other similar terms. Risks and uncertainties include, without limitation; difficulties or delays in development, testing and obtaining regulatory approval of a drug; unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy of a drug that could delay or prevent product development or commercialization; the scope and validity of patent protection for a product; and competition from other pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. As a result, there are no assurances (i) that Wanbang Pharma will be able to develop and commercialize Sirona’s SGLT2 Inhibitor or obtain China’s FDA approval of a drug; and (ii) that Sirona Biochem will be able to earn the milestone payments or Wanbang Pharma will obtain sales of a drug at reasonable commercial levels.
Readers are accordingly cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Sirona Biochem does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law.