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Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Expands Pipeline by Signing an Option Agreement to Acquire an Exclusive License with COUR Pharmaceuticals to Develop and Commercialize CNP-104 for the Treatment of Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) in the U.S.
IND for CNP-104 Accepted by FDA; Clinical Trials Planned for the End of 2021 Ironwood to Make a Payment of approximately $20 Million in Upfront and Near-Term
About this update from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nIND for CNP-104 Accepted by FDA; Clinical Trials Planned for the End of 2021\n\nIronwood to Make a Payment of approximately $20 Million in Upfront and Near-Term Milestones and up to $475 Million in Long-Term Commercial and Regulatory Milestones and Royalties to COUR\n\n BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nIronwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD), a GI-focused healthcare company, today announced that it is expanding its pipeline by entering into a collaboration and license option agreement with COUR Pharmaceutical Development Company, Inc. (“COUR”), a biotechnology company developing novel immune-modifying nanoparticles to treat autoimmune diseases. This agreement gives Ironwood an option to acquire an exclusive license to develop and commercialize, in the U.S., COUR’s investigational therapy CNP-104 (the “License”), which if successful, could transform the treatment of Primary Biliary Cholangitis – otherwise known as PBC - a rare autoimmune disease targeting the liver that affects an estimated 133,000 people in the U.S. Currently there is no cure, and medical care is focused on disease management. PBC can lead to irreversible damage and scarring of the liver tissue, ultimately requiring liver transplant.\n\nCNP-104 is being developed utilizing COUR’s nanoparticle platform (CNP), a novel, proprietary system, which combines disease-specific pathogenic antigens with state-of-the-art pharmaceutical nanoparticles that mimic normal removal of dead or dying cells from the body. COUR’s platform has shown proof of technology in clinical and preclinical settings, further demonstrating the opportunity for the platform to treat PBC.\n\n\"Collaborating with COUR fits squarely within our business development framework and guiding principles; moving our strategy forward through expansion of our pipeline, leveraging our deep relationships with gastroenterologists and advancing innovation via highly differentiated opportunities like CNP-104,” said Tom McCourt, president and chief executive officer of Ironwood. “COUR’s expertise in immune reprogramming and Ironwood’s development and commercial strength and reach in the GI disease area, will help introduce a potentially new therapy to patients in significant need of new options. This option agreement highlights our focus on prudently allocating capital to value enhancing opportunities while maintain...