Laboratoires Théa has penned a deal potentially worth up to $280 million to get its hands on Iolyx Therapeutics’ phase 3-ready eye disease drug.
The asset in question is ILYX-002, a topical immunomodulator for moderate to severe dry eye disease (DED) associated with systemic autoimmune or inflammatory conditions. In May, Iolyx read out data from a phase 2 study in autoimmune DED that tied ILYX-002 to a “clinically relevant” trend in the primary endpoint of total conjunctival staining and a statistically significant improvement in the secondary endpoint of corneal staining.
While Iolyx wasn’t able to claim a win for the trial’s primary goal, the California-based biotech said at the time that ILYX-002 demonstrated superiority to studies of approved products and sketched out plans to launch a phase 3 study before the end of the year.
Théa also seemed pleased by the phase 2 data, describing it in this morning’s release as “highly encouraging.”
“They confirm ILYX-002’s potential to address one of ophthalmology’s most challenging conditions,” Jean-Frédéric Chibret, president of the Théa group, said in the Dec. 3 release.
Today’s deal means that any phase 3 studies of ILYX-002 will now be conducted by France-based Théa. While the companies didn’t offer a precise breakdown of the financials, we know that the deal’s potential value could stretch to $280 million across clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties of up to 21% on net sales and reimbursement of R&D expenses.
In return, Théa gets the rights to develop and commercialize ILYX-002 for DED associated with systemic autoimmune disorders “and potentially other indications in eye care” globally, excluding China, Japan and certain other Asian countries.
“Partnering with Théa positions ILYX-002 to move rapidly into pivotal studies and, if approved, to patients worldwide,” Iolyx’s CEO Elizabeth Jeffords said in the release.
“By combining Iolyx’s deep immune-ophthalmology expertise with Théa’s complementary late-stage development and commercial scale, this collaboration creates the synergy needed to deliver better, patient-centric medicines for immuno-ophthalmology,” Jeffords said.
Alongside the deal, Iolyx announced it had raised a $15 million series B round led by Frazier Life Sciences. The biotech said the financing will “further fund” its pipeline, which consists of two preclinical ocular assets.
“Alongside our insider-led series B financing, this collaboration represents a meaningful step forward for Iolyx, combining capital and scale to accelerate our mission to bring targeted therapies to people living with ocular-inflammatory diseases in the front and back of the eye,” Jeffords added.