Regeneron Acquires Oxular to Advance Next-Gen Ocular Drug Delivery for Retinal Diseases

Jan 03, 2025 13:35 CST Updated 13:35

Oxular

Developer of Drugs and Devices for Retinal Disease Treatment

Regeneron

Biopharmaceutical Manufacturer

丨Organized by the PharmaHunter Club Research Team

January 2,Regeneron Announces Acquisition of Core Technology Assets from UK Ophthalmic Biotech Company Oxular, with Transaction Completion by End of 2024Mark Gaffney, former CEO and board member of Oxular, announced the news on his LinkedIn. This targeted acquisition will pave the way for Regeneron's potential futureOcular Gene TherapyProviding potentialBest-in-Class Delivery Device, thereby accelerating the clinical process.

According to an exclusive report by Fierce Biotech,This acquisition does not include Oxular's employees and focuses solely on the technology portfolio.Only a few employees of Oxular temporarily stayed to assist Regeneron with technology transfer and transition work. It is reported that Oxular had about 20 employees at the time of the acquisition.

No official announcement was made about the acquisition, and the financial terms have not been disclosed yet. The company is expected to share more information in the next quarter.

About Oxular

Oxular, founded in 2014 and headquartered in the UK, is a biotechnology company focused on retinal diseases. It provides tissue-specific potent drug delivery to address various pathophysiological pathways of retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, retinal vein occlusion, and cystoid macular edema, enabling patients to enhance treatment efficacy, reduce side effects, and minimize the frequency of retinal treatments.

In 2021, Oxular raised $37 million in funding led by European venture capital firm Forbion, which was primarily used to accelerate the development of treatments for diabetic macular edema.

Its core asset - OXU-001 is a novel biodegradable drug formulation, known as Oxuspheres™ (long-acting dexamethasone formulation), which can be delivered to the suprachoroidal space of the posterior segment of the eye via Oxular’s proprietary microcatheter, Oxulumis. OXU-001 leverages Oxular’s highly adaptable and disruptive technologies, including:

Oxuspheres™——A patented drug containing a biodegradable polymer system, designed as an adjustable sustained-release formulation, can provide treatment for retinal diseases for up to 12 months after a single administration. This has the potential to address significant unmet needs, thereby improving patient outcomes and greatly reducing the unsustainable treatment burden on patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems.
Oxulumis™——A Proprietary Semi-Automatic Ocular Drug Delivery Device, utilizing a favorable drug delivery route (suprachoroidal space) to provide medication for retinal diseases. Oxulumis™ is designed to deliver routine, safe, and precise drug deployment to specific tissues affected by retinal diseases via a light-emitting microcatheter for treatment. Oxulumis™ offers doctors an efficient, innovative, and minimally invasive in-office administration procedure.

OXU-001 is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. This drug aims to provide retina specialists with an effective, long-lasting, and safe anti-edema and anti-inflammatory treatment for DME, RVO, and uveitis, with the potential to expand to radiation-induced maculopathy in the future, particularly radiation-induced macular edema.

Regeneron's "Ophthalmology Defense Battle"

RegeneronThe core revenue source — ophthalmology product EYLEA (aflibercept) was approved for marketing in 2011, with Bayer obtaining commercial rights outside the United States. In order toExtendThe patent life of Eylea,Regeneron has adopted strategies such as expanding indications and introducing a higher-dose version of Eylea HD. In August 2023, the FDA approved the high-dose 8mg version of aflibercept (EYLEA HD) launched in China for wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy. Compared to the original 2mg specification, the higher-dose aflibercept extends the interval between ocular injections.

However, the growth of ophthalmology revenue remains weak. In Q3 2024, the total sales of aflibercept reached $1.54 billion. Among this, the revenue from the high-dose formulation was $392 million, falling short of analysts' expectations of $414 million. The sales of the original formulation decreased from last year.Decreased from $1.5 billion to $1.15 billion in the same period.

Under the pressure of competing products and generic drugs, this timeRegeneron's acquisition bets on CGT therapy. Previously in this field, RegeneronThroughAcquisitions and CollaborationsContinuously expanding the cell and gene therapy pipeline to capture market share:

On January 30, 2024, Regeneron announced that, according to the agreement reached with 2seventy bio: Regeneron will obtain the development and commercialization rights for all of 2seventy bio's novel immunotherapy cell therapy pipelines under research, as well as their discovery and clinical manufacturing capabilities; additionally, 270 biological employees related to the acquisition of 2seventy bio projects will join Regeneron’s newly established R&D division, Regeneron Cell Medicines, to advance the acquired projects and its own cell therapy programs.
In August 2023, Regeneron announced the acquisition of Decibel Therapeutics, a Nasdaq-listed company, for $109 million. The core of this acquisition is Decibel's three AAV gene therapy programs for hearing loss.

Source:

Fierce botech

Official Websites of Various Companies

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