Hughes Hubbard recently represented Dutch biopharmaceutical company OctoPlus N.V. in negotiating an exclusive license and product acquisition agreement with co-development partner Biolex Therapeutics.
Under the terms of the deal, OctoPlus will license to Biolex its share of the commercial rights to its lead product, Locteron. OctoPlus will remain a partner in the process development and manufacture of Locteron, but without having to make the investments for the upcoming late-stage clinical program. OctoPlus will receive an upfront fee of $11 million, followed by milestone payments totaling $138 million over the coming years. OctoPlus will also receive royalties on future Locteron sales and an equity stake in Biolex of up to 3 percent.
Locteron is designed to be a best-in-class therapeutic for patients with chronic hepatitis C, with the potential to induce fewer side effects, improve patient compliance and provide a more convenient once-every-two-week dosing schedule compared with current therapies.
OctoPlus focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled release versions of known protein therapeutics, other drugs and vaccines. OctoPlus is also a leading provider of advanced drug formulation and clinical scale manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
Jan Joosten, Ron Abramson, Jim Bluck, Jim Kobak, Jim Pastore, Arinze Ike, Kathryn Taylor and Ting Chen Riess represented OctoPlus.