Sosei out-licenses mefloquine to Treague

Japanese drug firm Sosei Group has out-licensed its intellectual property and know-how relating to the RS(+) isomer of mefloquine to Treague, a Cambridge, UK-based pharmaceutical company, for the treatment and prophylaxis of malaria. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mefloquine is a highly efficacious anti-malarial drug that is approved in its racemic form for both treatment (in combination with artesunate) and prophylaxis (as monotherapy) of malaria. Though its efficacy and long half-life make racemic mefloquine a particularly attractive anti-malarial drug, its clinical utility has been compromized by central nervous system side effects. However, it is hypothesised, based on the stereoselective nature of mefloquine's receptor binding that RS(+) mefloquine has the potential for substantially reduced CNS side effect liability. Treague is collaborating with Medicines for Malaria Venture, a Geneva, Switzerland-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria, to develop RS(+) mefloquine for the treatment of malaria in malaria endemic countries. In addition, Treague plans to develop RS(+) mefloquine for the prophylaxis of malaria for commercial sale.