Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, announced that AbbVie has dosed the first subject in a clinical trial evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetics of adalimumab with Halozyme's proprietary Enhanze technology.
"We are pleased that the first product candidate with AbbVie has been advanced into clinical testing just seven months after forming our collaboration agreement," said Dr. Helen Torley, president and chief executive officer. "The progress is encouraging as we seek to help an even broader population of patients with our Enhanze platform."
The initiation of clinical evaluation triggered a $5 million milestone payment to Halozyme under the collaboration and license agreement between the companies.
Halozyme's Enhanze technology is based on a proprietary recombinant human enzyme (rHuPH20) that temporarily degrades hyaluronan, a glycosaminoglycan or chain of natural sugars in the body, to aid in the dispersion and absorption of other injected therapeutic drugs.
In June 2015, Halozyme and AbbVie entered into a collaboration and license agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Halozyme has granted to AbbVie a worldwide license to develop and commercialize products for up to nine targets, combining rHuPH20 with AbbVie's proprietary compounds. Halozyme received an initial payment of $23 million, and is eligible to receive additional payments upon AbbVie's achievement of specified development, regulatory and sales-based milestones, totaling up to $130 million per target. Halozyme is also entitled to tiered royalty payments based on net sales of products using the Enhanze technology.
Enhanze is Halozyme's proprietary drug delivery platform based on its patented recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20). rHuPH20 has been shown to remove traditional limitations on the volume of biologics that can be delivered subcutaneously (just under the skin). By using rHuPH20, some biologics and compounds that are administered intravenously may instead be delivered subcutaneously. Enhanze may also benefit subcutaneous biologics by reducing the need for multiple injections. This delivery has been shown in studies to reduce health care practitioner time required for administration and shorten time for drug administration.