Alteon and OXIS amend licensing deal

The USA's Alteon and OXIS International have amended and restated an existing licensing agreement. Under the new terms of the deal, Alteon obtains exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and market ALT-2074 and related organoselenium compounds in the OXIS library in all indications. Alteon will be responsible for the worldwide product development programs and will pay OXIS an upfront license fee of $500,000 and make an equity investment, as well as pay additional fees for the achievement of certain development and regulatory approval milestones and royalties.

ALT-2074 (formerly BXT-51072), Alteon's lead compound under this license, is currently in a Phase II clinical study for cardiovascular indications. The firm believes that the compound may be useful in patients with diabetes, whose cardiovascular disease may be caused by high levels of circulating oxidized lipids and associated inflammation. OXIS previously reported that BXT-51072 demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical studies as well as in a clinical trial in ulcerative colitis.

Diabetes is a large and growing health care problem worldwide. It has been suggested that 10% of all health care spending in the USA is diabetes related. As many as 250 million people worldwide may have diabetes or a predisposition for the disease and that number may grow 50% over the next 20 years.