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ENYO Pharma Obtains License for Receptor to Potentially Treat HBV
ENYO Pharma announced it has entered a patent licensing agreement with Inserm Transfert and other necessary parties and obtained a license to a key patent for it to use agonists of the farnesoid X receptor for the treatment of hepatitis B virus infection.
The farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear and bile acid receptor, regulates replication of HBV and controls what happens to bile acids in the liver and intestine and can also influence insulin sensitivity. The use of FXR agonists for the treatment of HBV was first discovered and patented by Inserm research scientists and their industry partners Poxel and Edelris.
This new patent agreement stems from a licensing agreement in May 2015 under which ENYO Pharma acquired Poxel’s rights to a family of FXR agonist compounds for all therapeutic indications. Also in that agreement, Poxel retained a right of first refusal on the cardiovascular and metabolic condition indications.
“We are delighted to have obtained access to this patent to use FXR agonists, which is crucial to our future developments in liver infections,” Jacky Vonderscher, PhD, CEO of ENYO Pharma, said in the release. “It will strengthen the intellectual property portfolio underpinning our flagship hepatitis B program, a condition with tremendous unmet need for new therapies. EYP001, the first product developed under this program, which we licensed from Poxel in early 2015, is nearing the end of its regulatory toxicology trials. Clinical trials are scheduled to begin in early 2016.”
ENYO Pharma’s goal is to complete all required studies to submit a Clinical Trial Application to begin phase 1 clinical trials in spring 2016 on healthy volunteers and begin treating patients with chronic HBV in phase 2 trials by 2017.
Disclosure: Vonderscher is employed by ENYO Pharma.