GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and biopharmaceutical company, Amicus Therapeutics announced that Amicus has obtained global rights to develop and commercialise the investigational pharmacological chaperone migalastat HCl as a monotherapy and in combination with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for Fabry disease.

Under the key highlights of  revised agreement: Amicus will have sole rights to the global drug development, regulatory and commercial activities for the next-generation Fabry ERT (migalastat HCl co-formulated with ERT) as well as migalastat HCl monotherapy; GSK will be eligible for future regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalty payments; GSK will further invest $3 million in Amicus through an equity investment in a concurrent private placement in public equity (PIPE) transaction.

Under the terms of the revised agreement, there is no upfront payment from Amicus to GSK. For the next-generation Fabry ERT GSK is eligible to receive single-digit royalties on net sales in eight major markets outside the US. For migalastat HCl monotherapy, GSK is eligible to receive post-approval and sales-based milestones as well as tiered royalties in the mid-teens in eight major markets outside the US. The terms of the revised agreement replace the prior agreement in its entirety. Under the prior agreement entered into in July 2012, Amicus and GSK were co-developing migalastat HCl globally and GSK had rights to commercialise migalastat HCl outside the United States.

Moncef Slaoui, chairman of GSK R&D, commented, “With internal expertise and established relationships within the rare disease community, we believe Amicus is well positioned to maintain momentum of the programs, maximising their potential for success, which we hope will provide benefit to patients living with Fabry disease. GSK will continue to support Amicus through our equity investment and share in the future value of migalastat HCl as the Fabry program meets certain regulatory and sales milestones.”

John F. Crowley, chairman and chief executive officer of Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. stated, “This transaction is very important for Amicus and for our future. It delivers what we believe to be immediate and significant value to our shareholders while allowing us to maintain a strong relationship with GSK, our largest shareholder. GSK has been an excellent active development partner for us on these programs for three years. With this transaction we are gaining worldwide rights to our first proprietary next generation co-formulated product, as well as migalastat HCl monotherapy. We look forward to advancing these programs to major milestones into 2014.”

Migalastat HCl is an investigational pharmacological chaperone in development as a monotherapy and in combination with ERT for the treatment of Fabry disease. As a monotherapy, migalastat HCl is designed to bind to and stabilize, or “chaperone” a patient’s own alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A) enzyme in those with genetic mutations that are amenable to this chaperone in a cell-based assay. For patients currently receiving ERT for Fabry disease, migalastat HCl in combination with ERT may improve ERT outcomes by keeping the infused alpha-Gal A enzyme in its properly folded and active form.

Amicus Therapeutics  is a biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of therapies for rare and orphan diseases. The company is developing novel, first-in-class treatments for a broad range of human genetic diseases, with a focus on delivering new benefits to individuals with lysosomal storage diseases.