Smoking Vaccine Update:
Novartis has acquired global rights to an anti-smoking vaccine, which was
developed by Swiss company Cytos Biotechnology.
In the deal Novartis gets
worldwide exclusive rights for CYT002-NicQb, a therapeutic vaccine in clinical
development for the treatment of nicotine addiction.
Phase II trials of the potentially first-in-class vaccine have indicated that
the drug could stimulate abstinence from smoking in patients who achieved high
antibody levels following vaccination, Novartis said.
The compound is set to enter Phase III trials in late 2008.
Swiss giant Novartis will be responsible for late stage clinical development,
manufacturing, and commercialization of the vaccine, while Cytos is eligible to
receive up to CHF 600m in upfront and potential development, regulatory approval
and sales milestone payments based on the successful development and
commercialization of the drug.
In addition, Cytos Biotechnology will receive royalty payments on net sales of
product.
"This unique compound complements our efforts to provide a range of new
treatment options to patients and physicians across a wide range of respiratory
diseases," said Thomas Ebeling, chief executive of Novartis.
"Smoking remains a cause of many fatal diseases, and vaccine technology
represents an important new approach to help people overcome their addiction to
nicotine and stop smoking permanently."
NicQb is one of several therapeutic vaccines being developed by Cytos using its
Immunodrug technology. The drug acts by inducing the body to develop antibodies
that bind specifically to nicotine molecules in the bloodstream. The resulting
complex is then too large to get through the blood-brain barrier, and therefore
reducing the uptake of the highly addictive nicotine.
A phase I and a phase II trial have demonstrated that CYT002-NicQb has a favorable safety profile and is generally well tolerated and that it promoted and sustained long-term abstinence from smoking, when high antibody levels have been achieved upon vaccination.