Aerie expands drug-delivery tech deal with DSM Biomedical

Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:AERI) said today that it expanded its drug-delivery R&D deal with DSM Biomedical.

The two companies first joined forces in July last year to evaluate the sustained delivery of certain Aerie drugs using DSM’s polymer technology. Initially, the group was focused on developing drug-delivery tech for people with wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

The newly-expanded deal with DSM grants Aerie an exclusive global license to DSM’s polyesteramide polymer technology for an unlimited number of drugs in any ophthalmic indication. The two companies plan to work together through the end of 2020, according to Aerie.

The expanded partnership also gives Aerie access to DSM’s preclinical latanoprost implant designed for people with glaucoma.

Upon signing the new agreement, Aerie forked over $6 million to DSM and put $9 million on the table through the end of 2020.

Promising preclinical results have emerged from their initial collaboration, the companies reported. The group developed a polyesteramide-based implant containing AR-13503, an Aerie-owned drug that targets vascular dysfunction, fibrosis and inflammation in retinal diseases. In preclinical models of wet AMD and diabetic retinopathy, AR-13503 performed comparably against the marketing-leading anti-VEGF product containing aflibercept.

Aerie noted that it plans to file an IND application with the FDA for AR-13503 in 2019.

“This expanded agreement with DSM opens up many new opportunities to Aerie as we continue to innovate with new drugs and technologies to potentially treat many diseases of the eye, far beyond our current priority of moving AR-13503 into the clinic next year. For Aerie, this is a platform upon which we can build our innovative sustained release strategies for many ophthalmic diseases, including glaucoma,” Aerie’s chairman & CEO, Vicente Anido, Jr., said in prepared remarks.

“We are very excited that we have expanded our partnership with Aerie, a company that is widely recognized as a leading company in the development of new ophthalmology medicines that have the potential to brighten the lives of many patients,” Marc Hendriks, head of strategy & alliances at DSM Biomedical, added. “Moreover, it is a validation of the enabling value our bioerodible polyesteramide polymer brings in the development of innovative sustained release products; a platform technology that we can extend to other disease areas.”

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