Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Announces Investment and In-Licensing Agreement With MedAlliance
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Splendris International Limited, an affiliate of Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd. (Salubris), a multi-national leader in the development and commercialization of cardiovascular products in China and beyond, today announced a strategic investment and in-licensing agreement with Swiss cardiovascular pioneer M.A. MedAlliance S.A. (MedAlliance). Under the terms of the agreement, Salubris will make a $20 million equity investment in MedAlliance and will commit an additional $10 million in developmental milestones in exchange for exclusive rights to develop and commercialize MedAlliance’s lead investigational product Selution, a potential best-in-class sirolimus micro-reservoir drug-coated balloon (DCB), for peripheral and cardiovascular applications in the Chinese market. MedAlliance will also be eligible for royalty payments on sales.
“Sirolimus’ combination of anti-restenotic and anti-inflammatory properties have been proven clearly superior to first-generation paclitaxel drug coatings on stents, but technical challenges have precluded the transposition of this evolution in stents to the drug-coated balloons used in reperfusion procedures,” said Kevin Ye, chief executive officer of Salubris. “MedAlliance has taken an innovative approach that is also rooted in clinical precedence. Salubris is pleased to support MedAlliance’s progress through this strategic investment, and we look forward to working together to commercialize the company’s technology for the benefit of the many millions of patients with coronary and peripheral artery disease in China.”
MedAlliance’s DCB technology is a next-generation approach for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), coronary artery disease (CAD) and arteriovenous fistulas (AVF). With unique micro-reservoirs, the technology efficiently delivers sirolimus to the target lesion, where it provides controlled and sustained release. MedAlliance’s technology will further enable surgeons’ desire to move away from metal scaffolds and durable polymers that remain within the patient in PAD by providing a safer and more effective alternative to paclitaxel-coated balloons. Clinical data from a first-in-man study of MedAlliance’s DCB first presented at a medical meeting in January 2018 demonstrated one of the lowest rates of target lesion revascularization ever reported in a DCB first-in-man study at six months.
With MedAlliance, Salubris continues its global expansion outside of China through both strategic partnerships and R&D operations in the US at its subsidiary Salubris Biotherapeutics.
