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Jazz Pharmaceuticals partners with Saniona to develop SAN2355, a promising epilepsy treatment, enhancing options for neurological disorders.
Jazz will be granted exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the preclinical epilepsy solution.
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Jazz Pharmaceuticals announced it entered an exclusive licensing agreement with Saniona to obtain the rights to develop SAN2355, a highly differentiated, subtype-selective Kv7.2/Kv7.3 activator. Currently, SAN2355 is in preclinical development for epilepsy and other potential indications and was designed to surpass limitations of non-selective Kv7-targeting compounds.
Robert Iannone, M.D., M.S.C.E., executive vice president, global head of research and development, and chief medical officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, touched on the collaborations impact in developing SAN2355, saying, “SAN2355 is a unique and highly promising preclinical asset that has the potential to become a best-in-class Kv7 activator for the treatment of epilepsy. We are pleased to enter this exclusive agreement with Saniona to lead the SAN2355 clinical development program. This transaction further expands our early-stage neuroscience pipeline building on our existing expertise in the treatment of epilepsy and our R&D team remains committed to developing novel approaches to improving treatment options for people living with epilepsy and other neurologic conditions."1
Saniona has experience in strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, such as Acadia Pharmaceuticals (which holds the international rights to ACP-711 for the treatment of essential tremor). Additionally, Saniona partnered with Medix, granting Medix the rights to tesoenine (an obesity treatment) in Mexico and Argentina.
The clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focuses on discovering and developing treatment options for neurological & psychiatric disorders and holds an internal pipeline of treatment options that includes SAN2219 for epilepsy and SAN2465 for major depressive orders. Saniona currently has two additional clinical-stage programs ready for partnership; Tesomet, which is ready to advance to Phase 2b trials for rare eating disorders, and SAN903, preparing to enter Phase 1 trials for inflammatory bowel diseases.
SAN2355, a preclinical selective small molecule activator of Kv7.2/Kv7.3 potassium channels, functions as a seizure suppressant and treatment for epilepsy. Previous Kv7-targeting agents have resulted in clinical efficiency, but become limited in dosage, as adverse effects have become associated with off-target activation. SAN2355 is selective for Kv7.2/Kv7.3, the Kv7-subtypes responsible for seizure suppression, and aims to diminish activation of other Kv7-subtypes. This precision employs SAN2355 to deliver dosing with efficiency, along with supporting its potential as a treatment for epilepsy.
According to the terms listed in the licensing agreement, Saniona is set to receive $42.5 million as an upfront payment, along with an estimated $192.5 million in developmental and regulatory milestones. The additional milestones include:
"Our collaboration with Jazz leverages their leading position in epilepsy and their strong track record of rapidly advancing clinical development programs and effectively commercializing novel therapies in neuroscience, positioning SAN2355 as a promising option for epilepsy and neurological conditions, while enabling us to advance several of our other valuable pipeline programs to key inflection points," said Thomas Feldthus, CEO of Saniona. "Jazz's commitment to develop life-changing medicines for people with serious diseases aligns with our mission to improve outcomes for those affected by neurological and psychiatric disorders, and both companies aim to expand treatment possibilities for patients in need."1
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