Option deal boosts ImmuPharma

25/11/2008 Robert Tyerman

US pharmaceutical group Cephalon is to pay drug discoverer ImmuPharma £10 million upfront for an option on its Lupuzor lupus treatment.

The option deal gives Cephalon the right to obtain an exclusive worldwide licence for Lupuzor, which treats Lupus Erythematosus, a chronic auto-immune disease that damages skin, joints, blood vessels and the nervous system. If the US company exercises this option, it will then pay AIM-quoted ImmuPharma a one-time licence fee, payments if Lupuzor passes necessary regulatory milestones up to a maximum of £330 million and royalties on subsequent commercial sales.

ImmuPharma, which lost £1.5 million in the first half of this year, is now conducting a Phase IIb study of Lupuzor on patients in Europe and Latin America. If Cephalon exercises its option, it will take on all expenses for Phase III studies and commercialisation of the product.

Dimitri Dimitriou, chief executive officer of London-based ImmuPharma, proclaims this agreement ‘secures the future for our most advanced asset’. After a rough ride, ImmuPharma shares, which fell from 84.5p in early 2007 to 36.5p earlier this month, have bounced to 56.5p and should recover further if Lupuzor makes progress.

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