BioWorld International Correspondent

BioInvent International AB licensed an osteoarthritis drug discovery and development program from neighboring firm Cartela AB.

Both companies are based in Lund, Sweden, and BioInvent already was collaborating with Cartela on the program, developing antibodies against two proprietary integrin targets that are associated with osteoarthritis. (See BioWorld International, Dec. 11, 2002.)

BioInvent now has decided to take over the project itself and licensed rights to drugs that act on the two integrins, a10b1 and a11b1, both of which belong to the collagen receptor subgroup of the integrin family. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Cartela is receiving an up-front fee and could gain milestone payments and royalties. It has retained rights to use the two receptors as markers for assessing autologous chondrocyte transplants.

The two integrins appear to play a role in controlling production of cartilage by chondrocytes, BioInvent CEO Svein Mathisen told BioWorld International, although the precise mechanism is not yet understood.

"We know that the particular targets are overexpressed on the chondrocytes," he said. "We also have data indicating that we could modulate these cells' activity with antibodies." The preclinical program has progressed to studies in animal models. The next step, Mathisen said, will be to conduct studies in transgenic animals expressing the human integrin genes.

The deal is the first BioInvent has signed since it unveiled a restructuring initiative last month, aiming to focus more on proprietary drug development, and more could be on the way. (See BioWorld International, Sept. 17, 2003.)

"We have several projects under evaluation - so you will see more of this [type of] news from BioInvent," Mathisen said.

The company last week reported interim results for the first nine months of the year. It posted a net loss of SEK65.2 million (US$8.5 million) on SEK50.7 million revenues. Cash at the end of the period dropped to SEK304.6 million from SEK376.0 million in 2002.