Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AERI) agreed to acquire Avizorex Pharma, a Spanish ophthalmic pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of dry eye disease.
Under the accord, Aerie would make an upfront payment of $10-million and AVX shareholders would be eligible to receive additional payments subject to achieving certain clinical and regulatory performance milestones, plus royalties on net sales of approved products from AVX’s development pipeline. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2018.
AVX completed a Phase 2a study in dry eye subjects earlier this year with its lead product candidate, AVX-012. The active ingredient in AVX-012 is a potent and selective agonist of the TRPM8 ion channel, a cold sensor and osmolarity sensor that regulates ocular surface wetness and blink rate. By stimulating these processes in a physiological manner, TRPM8 agonists have the potential to restore tear film stability and reduce discomfort in patients with dry eye.
Positive results from the Phase 2a study support the therapeutic potential of AVX-012 to treat signs and symptoms of dry eye and Aerie is planning to initiate a larger Phase 2b study in late 2020. In addition to AVX-012, Aerie will be acquiring rights to other compounds targeting TRPM8.
“This product has a novel mechanism of action for treating dry eye and we believe that, if approved, it could nicely complement the currently approved drugs for this indication,” Vicente Anido, Jr., chairman and CEO of Aerie, said in a statement.
“Since the majority of our efforts in 2020 will be focused on supportive non-clinical studies, we do not currently expect to meaningfully increase our R&D expenditures next year,” he added.
