Conor Medsystems, Inc., a developer of innovative controlled vascular drug delivery technologies, has signed an agreement with Novartis Pharma AG granting Conor the right to evaluate three Novartis pharmaceutical compounds -imatinib mesylate, pimecrolimus and a pre-commercial compound, midostaurin -for the potential development of a novel product combining a Novartis compound with Conor's reservoir-based drug-eluting stents for the treatment of vascular diseases.
Based on the terms of the Agreement, Conor will initially evaluate all three compounds and, based on results, will have the option to obtain a world- wide, non-exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize products combining Conor's novel drug-eluting reservoir-based cobalt chromium stents with one of the three compounds evaluated.
If Conor exercises its option to license one of the compounds, the company will be responsible for product development, including clinical trials, manufacturing and regulatory filings, and will pay Novartis licensing fees, milestone payments and royalties on product sales. Novartis will supply Conor with the compounds and will collaborate with Conor on regulatory and technical issues. Further terms of the agreement were not disclosed, a Conor release said here.
"We believe that the results of the recently presented Isar-Diabetes, Taxus V and Sirtax trials clearly indicate a need for improved efficacy of drug-eluting stents in real world patient populations. The Novartis agreement has the potential to expand Conor's development pipeline by enabling us to explore the therapeutic potential of Novartis' leading agents with our proprietary stent platform," said Frank Litvack, chairman and CEO of Conor.
The Novartis compounds will be tested in combination with Conor's cobalt chromium stent platform to evaluate their potential in treating restenosis and related vascular diseases. Imatinib mesylate belongs to a class of drugs collectively known as signal transduction inhibitors. It is an inhibitor of several protein-tyrosine kinases including PDGF that are believed to play a role in reducing cell proliferation and therefore may have applications in the treatment of restenosis. Pimecrolimus is a cell-selective inhibitor of the production and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. It is believed that inflammation is one of the key mechanisms in restenosis as well as other vascular inflammatory diseases such as unstable plaques. Midostaurin is an inhibitor of both FGF protein kinases and extracellular matrix synthesis associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction such as in the restenosis process in diabetic patients.
Conor is currently developing its CoStar cobalt chromium paclitaxel- eluting stent for the treatment of restenosis in Europe and in the US. Additional programmes are underway to explore the utilization of other compounds for the treatment of restenosis and other vascular diseases including the treatment of acute myocardial infarction-induced ischemia, the release added.