Ariad Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that the they have entered into an agreement for Otsuka to commercialise Ariad’s Iclusig (ponatinib) in Japan and nine other Asian countries and to fund future clinical trials in those countries.

Ariad will lead the completion of the Japanese New Drug Application (NDA) for Iclusig, and Otsuka will file the NDA on behalf of both companies for regulatory approval in resistant and intolerant chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph+ALL) in 2015. Iclusig is an approved BCR-ABL inhibitor in the United States, Europe and Australia.

The agreement provides for Otsuka to receive exclusive rights to market Iclusig in Japan and nine other Asian countries (Territory) in return for an upfront payment of $77.5 million to Ariad, a milestone payment upon regulatory approval in Japan for patients with resistant and intolerant Philadelphia-positive leukemias, and additional milestone payments for approval in other indications.

Following approvals in the Territory, Otsuka will conduct sales activities and record sales. Ariad will also receive a substantial share of net product sales.

Ariad will continue to fund the completion of its ongoing pivotal trial of Iclusig that will form the basis of the filing for regulatory approval in Japan, while Otsuka will fund additional agreed-upon clinical studies in the Territory. For Ariad-sponsored global studies that include sites in Japan, Otsuka has the option to contribute to the funding and gain access to the data for use in the Territory.

“This agreement meets one of our key strategic objectives establishing a strong partnership with an experienced and committed Japanese pharmaceutical company to commercialise and co-develop Iclusig in Japan and Asia,” said Harvey J. Berger, MD, chairman and chief executive officer of Ariad. “Otsuka is building a leading hematology and oncology business in Japan and Asia and is an outstanding partner to successfully commercialising Iclusig in these markets.”

“Over the past several years, we have worked with the leading hematology experts in Japan and have run the Phase 1/2 clinical trial that will form the basis for our marketing authorisation application,” he added. “Together with Otsuka, we will be able to make this cancer medicine available to refractory Philadelphia-positive leukaemia patients in need of new treatment options.”

Otsuka Pharmaceutical President and Representative Director Taro Iwamoto noted, “The future arrival of Ariad’s ponatanib in Japan and elsewhere in Asia will be an important evolution for patients with CML and Philadelphia-positive ALL with BCR-ABL gene expression, said to be particularly difficult to treat. Treatments have been inadequate for patients with these life-threatening conditions and we aim to contribute to improve the treatment available to them. Ariad’s high-level drug discovery technology powered its discovery of ponatanib and Otsuka aims to maintain this momentum by making it part of our expanded portfolio in blood cancers from pre-treatment conditioning to treatments.”

A joint development and commercialisation committee will oversee clinical development and commercialisation of Iclusig in the Territory, including approval of any development or commercialisation plans. Otsuka will have exclusive commercial rights to Iclusig and will promote it as its sole tyrosine kinase inhibitor in the Territory. In addition to Japan, the other Asian countries that are included in this agreement are China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Iclusig is a kinase inhibitor discovered by Ariad. The primary target for Iclusig is BCR-ABL, an abnormal tyrosine kinase that is expressed in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph+ ALL). Iclusig was designed using Ariad’s computational and structure-based drug-design platform specifically to inhibit the activity of BCR-ABL. Iclusig targets not only native BCR-ABL but also its isoforms that carry mutations that confer resistance to treatment, including the T315I mutation, which has been associated with resistance to other approved TKIs.