Biogen and Skyhawk Therapeutics Announce Agreement to Develop Novel Small Molecule RNA Splicing Modifiers for Neurological Di...
04 Enero 2019 - 6:30AM
Biogen and Skyhawk Therapeutics Announce Agreement to Develop Novel
Small Molecule RNA Splicing Modifiers for Neurological Disease
Targets
Biogen Inc (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc. (Skyhawk)
today announced a strategic collaboration in which the companies
will leverage Skyhawk’s SkySTAR™ technology platform with the goal
of discovering innovative small molecule treatments for patients
with neurological diseases. Biogen will have the option to license
therapies resulting from the collaboration and will be responsible
for their development and potential commercialization.
The agreement grants Biogen an exclusive license to worldwide
intellectual property rights on research-stage therapeutic
candidates for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal
muscular atrophy (SMA) and additional neurological disorders. As
part of the agreement, Skyhawk received an upfront payment of $74
million from Biogen and may receive potential future milestone
payments and royalties. A portion of the upfront payment will be
allocated to future research services, with the remainder expensed
in the first quarter of 2019 as research and development.
“Skyhawk’s platform offers a powerful approach to target
neurological conditions using selective RNA-modulating small
molecules, creating exciting possibilities for potential new
therapies,” said Michael Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice
president, research and development at Biogen. “This collaboration
exemplifies Biogen’s commitment to joining forces with innovative
companies with the goal of improving the lives of patients living
with neurological diseases.”
“Biogen is a leading neuro-focused biopharmaceutical company
with a compelling history of drug development across a range of
challenging neurological conditions,” said Bill Haney, co-founder
and chief executive officer of Skyhawk. “Their strong scientific
culture has already produced a series of leading global
therapeutics. We look forward to working with their team with the
goal of potentially enhancing the treatment options we could bring
to the neuroscience community.”
About Biogen At Biogen, our mission is clear:
we are pioneers in neuroscience. Biogen discovers, develops and
delivers worldwide innovative therapies for people living with
serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. One of the
world’s first global biotechnology companies, Biogen was founded in
1978 by Charles Weissmann, Heinz Schaller, Kenneth Murray and Nobel
Prize winners Walter Gilbert and Phillip Sharp, and today has the
leading portfolio of medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, has
introduced the first and only approved treatment for spinal
muscular atrophy and is focused on advancing neuroscience research
programs in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, multiple sclerosis
and neuroimmunology, movement disorders, neuromuscular disorders,
pain, ophthalmology, neuropsychiatry and acute neurology. Biogen
also manufactures and commercializes biosimilars of advanced
biologics.
We routinely post information that may be important to investors
on our website at www.biogen.com. To learn more, please
visit www.biogen.com and follow us on social media
– Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube.
About Skyhawk TherapeuticsSkyhawk Therapeutics
is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing
therapies that use its novel SkySTAR™ (Skyhawk Small molecule
Therapeutics for Alternative splicing of RNA) platform to build
small molecule drugs that bring breakthrough treatments to
patients.
Biogen Safe Harbor StatementThis news release
contains forward-looking statements, including statements made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the
potential benefits and results that may be achieved through
Biogen’s collaboration with Skyhawk; risks and uncertainties
associated with drug development and commercialization; the
potential of Biogen’s commercial business and pipeline programs,
including potential research-stage therapeutic candidates for the
treatment of MS, SMA and additional neurological disorders. These
forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as
“aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “possible,”
“will” and other words and terms of similar meaning. Drug
development and commercialization involve a high degree of risk,
and only a small number of research and development programs result
in commercialization of a product. Results in early stage clinical
trials may not be indicative of full results or results from later
stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory
approval. You should not place undue reliance on these statements
or the scientific data presented.
These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in
such statements, including without limitation, uncertainty as to
whether the anticipated benefits and potential of Biogen’s
collaboration with Skyhawk can be achieved; risks of unexpected
costs or delays; uncertainty of success in the development and
potential commercialization of potential research-stage therapeutic
candidates for the treatment of MS, SMA and additional neurological
disorders, which may be impacted by, among other things, the
occurrence of adverse safety events and/or unexpected concerns that
may arise from additional data or analysis; regulatory authorities
may require additional information or further studies, or may fail
to approve or may delay approval of these drug candidates; Biogen
and Skyhawk may encounter other unexpected hurdles which may be
impacted by, among other things, the occurrence of adverse safety
events, failure to obtain regulatory approvals in certain
jurisdictions, or failure to protect intellectual property and
other proprietary rights; product liability claims; or third party
collaboration risks. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of
the factors that could cause actual results to differ from Biogen’s
expectations in any forward-looking statement. Investors should
consider this cautionary statement, as well as the risk factors
identified in Biogen’s most recent annual or quarterly report and
in other reports Biogen has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These statements are based on Biogen’s current beliefs
and expectations and speak only as of the date of this news
release. Biogen does not undertake any obligation to publicly
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise.
BIOGEN MEDIA
CONTACT:David Caouette+1 617 679 4945public.affairs@biogen.com |
BIOGEN INVESTOR
CONTACT:Mike Hencke+1 781 464 4471IR@biogen.com |
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SKYHAWK MEDIA
CONTACT:Maura McCarthymaura@skyhawktx.com |
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