Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX) has announced that Viatris (NASDAQ:VTRS) obtained an exclusive license from Lexicon to commercialize sotagliflozin across all indications outside the U.S. and Europe, in exchange for an upfront payment $25 million, along with potential regulatory and commercial milestone payments. Lexicon retains exclusive commercialization rights for all indications within the U.S. and Europe.
Sotagliflozin is an oral inhibitor approved by the FDA in May 2023 to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart failure hospitalization, and urgent heart failure visit in adults with heart failure, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and other cardiovascular risk factors.
“We are pleased to be working with Viatris, a company with strong cardiometabolic expertise, global commercial capabilities and a successful track record of launching medicines in new territories. We are confident that this agreement will expand the reach of sotagliflozin to more patients in need,” said Dr. Mike Exton, Ph.D., chief executive officer and director of Lexicon.
“Partnering with high quality companies to support commercialization of our medicines globally is a critical pillar of our Lead to Succeed strategy at Lexicon. We plan to continue to evaluate strategic partnerships for additional assets, territories and indications to augment Lexicon’s development and commercial capabilities, advance our pipeline and expand access of our medicines to more patients around the world,” Dr. Exton added.
Viatris chief commercial officer, Corinne Le Goff, commented, “This licensing agreement with Lexicon adds another asset to our expanding innovative portfolio in cardiovascular diseases which gives us the opportunity to further drive accelerated and durable revenue growth in the future. We believe we will be able to leverage our strong foundation in cardiovascular diseases and our unique infrastructure to execute on the potential of sotagliflozin. We look forward to working with Lexicon to make a real difference and expand access for patients.”
