Altea in Lilly/Amylin deal for diabetes patch

Altea Therapeutics has entered into an agreement with fellow US firms Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize a  novel, daily transdermal patch delivering sustained levels of exenatide  to patients with type 2 diabetes using Altea's PassPort delivery system.  Under the terms of the agreement, Altea has granted Lilly and Amylin  exclusive worldwide rights to bring to the market transdermal exenatide.  Lilly and Amylin will fund all product development, manufacturing and  commercialization activities, while Altea will receive an upfront  license payment with regulatory and sales milestones of up to $46.0  million, as well as royalties on future product sales. An equity  investment in Altea is included.

"This agreement continues the validation of the Altea transdermal patch  technology for medicines that currently can be administered only by  needle injection or infusion, including water-soluble proteins,  carbohydrates and small molecules," said Altea chief executive Eric  Tomlinson.

"The agreement to develop a transdermal patch for exenatide is aimed at  responding more broadly to the needs of the patients we serve by  offering more treatment choices," added Amylin senior vice president of  R&D Orville Kolterman.