Novosom in-licenses antisense CD40 inhibitors from isis pharma.

Novosom AG in-licensed from Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. the rights to antisense inhibitors that target CD40 mRNA for several indications, including Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and organ transplant rejection.

Terms were not disclosed, but Halle, Germany-based Novosom is paying Carlsbad, Calif.-based Isis an up-front payment, plus milestones and royalties. The agreement gives it exclusive, worldwide--and sublicensable--access to aspects of the American firm's core technology patents, including those covering its second generation 2'-Omethoxyethyl (2'MOE) oligonucleotide chemistry, which, Isis maintained, has increased target-binding affinity and increased resistance to breakdown.

Novosom plans to combine the 2'MOE chemistry platform with its proprietary "Smarticle" liposome delivery technology in order to improve the specificity of anti-CD40 antisense therapy. CD40, a member of the TNF receptor superfamily, is involved in mediating a wide range of immune signals and is the target of multiple drug development efforts in oncology and immunology.

Its Smarticle technology, developed in house by Steffen Panzner, company founder and chief scientific officer, comprises "charge-reversible," amphoteric liposome carriers that switch from having a negative charge in the bloodstream to having a positive charge as they undergo endocytosis by macrophages. That enables them to deliver their payload efficiently. "We're using a natural process. That's the ...