Sobi, Biogen Idec Expand Hemophilia Portfolio

By Lori Clapper

Swedish company Sobi announced it will be adding its preclinical hemophilia A candidate to the company's existing collaboration with Biogen Idec.

Under Sobi and Biogen Idec's agreement, Sobi retained the rights to add preclinical rFVIIIFc-XTEN-vWF fusion molecule to the collaboration. The XTEN technology is owned by Amunix Operating, which signed a worldwide licensing agreement with Biogen Idec in April 2014.

Sobi, which just opened its North American operations this week, is required to make a payment to Biogen Idec to include this program in the collaboration agreement.

"We are pleased to include this new and innovative technology in our collaboration with Biogen Idec", Geoffrey McDonough, CEO and President Sobi, said. "Although at an early stage, the XTEN technology has the potential to further extend FVIII half-life and could one day potentially become a next-generation long-acting factor for people with hemophilia A."

Biogen Idec and Sobi have collaborated in the past to develop and commercialize two other Hemophilia drugs, Eloctate, which was approved by the U.S. FDA in June 2014, and Alprolix, approved in March 2014.

Sobi has the right to develop and commercialize these meds in European countries, Russia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Biogen Idec will lead development, manufacturing, and commercialization in North America and all other regions in the world that are outside of Sobi’s territory. XTEN will now be added to this collaboration with similar terms to those of Eloctate and Alprolix. 

Hemophilia A is a rare, chronic, genetic disorder in which the ability of a person's blood to clot is impaired, due to missing or reduced levels of a protein known as factor VIII. The disease can be life-threatening, and it affects 142,000 people worldwide.