Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to Edison TV. We're joined today by Mads Piroga, Chief Business Officer of Synact Pharma. Earlier today, the company announced a new development and commercial partnership with the leading Brazilian pharma company, Epolabor, for its lead asset, Drismilligon, in dengue and other viral infections.
Speaker: With Brazil representing the world's largest dengue market, this deal looks very exciting and we have Mads with us today to discuss this in more detail. Welcome, Mads. Thank you very much.
Speaker: So, Matt, let's just start with the announcement. Could you briefly walk us through the proposed agreement and how this partnership came about and the key elements of the deal structure?
Speaker: Absolutely. So, first of all, we're very happy to, ah um you know, with the prospects of teaming up with Iba Labor on moving Restomalagone forward to patients, you know, the millions of patients in Brazil that are affected by dengue virus and and and other arborviral infections each year.
Speaker: ah We've signed a term sheet and are moving forward the the contract negotiations as we speak. So, the the kind of the ah The genesis of ah of a collaboration like this is that we see a lot of good momentum in our um clinical side, both on preclinical and clinical.
Speaker: ah What we do in what's called the Resuvia collaboration, which includes the the clinical study that's ongoing in dengue. um And we have a lot of learned a lot about how to how to approach ah a you know this disease with ah with um with a compound like resimelagon when to treat, how to treat, and and what to expect, obviously needs to be approved in in clinical trials moving forward.
Speaker: So the the proposed agreement here with ebo ab bo is to have a... um a clear-cut commercial license agreement ah that really benefits or really um kind of highlights so what Ibu La Boa very, very good at in in getting products to the market and and do mass distribution under ah and and doing government contracts and so forth.
Speaker: um And then there is a co-development agreement that really ah takes the best parts of both companies and to ensure that we can ah do the clinical trials, get that through the Brazilian authorities and visa and making sure that we do this as fast and and lean as possible.
Speaker: Great. So you already have the resume to study ongoing in Brazil. So why did you think that now is the right time to establish this partnership?
Speaker: so So we've seen a lot of good movement in our Resovia collaboration and on the Resovia 2 study. We'll actually provide an update on those in our Q2 reports due tomorrow. So I'll leave that for for there. But it's really on the basis of knowing a lot more about what resomelagon can do in in a disease like dengue um and and and bringing that forward.
Speaker: um We have ah been speaking with Ibel Abor for some time and because of the developments that we've seen in in the studies and our knowledge generated, we also feel that there is a momentum on making sure that we put the right resources to the development side, which is the the element of the co-development agreement, but also making sure that we think in the commercial side, which is the commercial license agreement already from start ah to make sure that we have the best possibilities of addressing a you know fairly large market like the Brazilian dengue market.
Speaker: Great. and And what we think is unique about this agreement is that it's actually a 50-50 co-development and profit-sharing model rather than a conventional licensing agreement. So what advantages does this structure offer us enact?
Speaker: so So first of all, I think the the you have to look at, and we're trying something new. ah This would be a new way of treating dengue and avoiding dengue to progress into severe disease. ah So it's really virgin territory for for all parties.
Speaker: um So we feel that we needed to have a kind of a balanced structure that yeah in an agreement like this, where we take kind of the benefits from both companies to to do the development and and really pushing on the regulatory side and and obviously financially, because we will ah will share the costs of doing that.
Speaker: And then on the commercial side, ah we acknowledge that doing business in a a mass distribution in a different model than what we would typically see with specialty pharma companies or specialty areas like rheumatoid arthritis is very different ah for what we need for in in ferdden and Brazil. and That's the specialty of of companies like Ibo Labor. And we like very much how Ibo Labor have scaled the business for success. And we think, that is ah ah a very great solution for to be part of in moving forward. So the deal is structured of making sure that we have aligned incentive to try something new and to really leverage the the key and you know attributes and capabilities that Ebola4 brings to the game that is vastly different from what is needed from rheumatoid arthritis and and other things that we're usually doing.
Speaker: Right. And and if we look beyond Reservé 2, what further clinical and regulatory work do you expect will be required to bring Reservé Lugan towards the market and commercialization in Brazil?
Speaker: So so it's it's obviously something that we have to engage with the Brazilian authorities and visa ah to ah to discuss. And because this is this is new to everybody, it's also new to and visa, um we have to establish clarity on what that path would look like. and ah The ongoing development with our Reservia 2 study is definitely going to chip into and and inform that process very well.
Speaker: Obviously, we need a phase-free program ah to ah that is it's large enough to make sure that we can demonstrate i'm that the disease will not progress or that it's safe and and the disease cannot progress ah to two severe disease and can be applied kind of to everybody that has been been um that in ah in a risk of ah fear of of ah getting severe disease.
Speaker: um We don't have the answers for how many patients that is needed and how long time it it it takes. But the the what we've seen in the past is that when you hit the dengue season or when they hit the right viral season, you can actually have a lot of patients in a single season. So we definitely feel that being ready for the seasons to come is a key element of bringing Ebola-Borin right now, really strengthening our ability to act and to make this happen, because that means that we can hit the seasons and get a fairly large program done once the patients you know are available and and not the other way around.
Speaker: Interesting, and we look forward to seeing how things progress on this partnership. And just taking a step back, Mads, strategically, what does this agreement mean for the broader prop partnering opportunity for Resumelagon? Do you see this dengue model being replicated in other geographies?
Speaker: And how does this fit alongside your broader plans for the asset?
Speaker: So it's it's very clear that we have a very clear strategic ambition to move our, you would say, the big indications around rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases ah forward into phase three and moving that forward with global or and or regional partners to do that.
Speaker: i'm I think that the the when looking at diseases like rheumatoid ah rheumatoid arthritis and and other arthritis diseases, um it's actually much more clear-cut what that market looks like and what the opportunity looks like. So I also believe that um agreements in that area should reflect kind of this known territory, so to speak. So i do think those agreements would look ah somewhat different and be much more power to ah to, you know, knowing what the market is you're going into, how much you can make and so forth. That will translate into like upfronts, different milestones based ah agreements and so forth. So somewhat different. So the learning I think the learning is
Speaker: um from Dengen, what we're trying to do there with Ibo Labor is somewhat unique and different. And that's why we're structured in the way that we have.
Speaker: That being said, ah we have made sure that we have total freedom to operate. and doing ah what we need to do with the asset from a global point of view, also in Brazil.
Speaker: um That's very important. And we feel very strongly that we have the cards in our hand to make sure that we can form um agreements on rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases um alongside or in parallel with what we're doing in dengue.
Speaker: Excellent. Thank you, Mats, for joining us today and congratulations again for this this new agreement. Very exciting indeed. And we look forward to the next steps for Ezemalagon in dengue and beyond.
Speaker: For our viewers keen to learn more about Synact Pharma, please refer to edisongroup.com for our ongoing coverage of the company. Thanks again, Mats. Thank you very much. Take care.
