Eccogene (Shanghai) Co., Ltd

Plus, news about DBV, Double Point Ventures and Lumos: Eccogene’s $60M milestone from AstraZeneca: The payment arrived after Eccogene met several milestones, including dosing the first patient in a Phase 2b program. The companies inked a deal a year ago to develop candidates for obesity and comorbidities like type 2 diabetes, with AstraZeneca paying $185 million upfront and up to $1.8 billion in milestones. — Jaimy Lee Bristol Myers Squibb makes $50M milestone payment to Evotec: The companies first partnered in 2018 and expanded their work developing molecular glue degraders in 2022. — Jaimy Lee DBV gets FDA feedback on peanut allergy patch: The penny stock company said it informally agreed to a surrogate endpoint for a potential accelerated approval for its Viaskin treatment for toddlers aged one to three years old. DBV expects a confirmatory study to be up and running by the second quarter of 2025 before it submits a BLA. DBV’s stock price $DBVT was up about 35% in trading on Wednesday. — Max Gelman Double Point Ventures takes Lumos private: About five years after going public via reverse merger , Lumos Pharma has agreed to a takeover for $4.25 per share $LUMO . Shareholders can eventually get more money if certain milestones are met. The company also said it aligned with the FDA on a Phase 3 trial in pediatric growth hormone deficiency. — Kyle LaHucik

ECC5004/AZD5004 is an investigational oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist licensed to AstraZeneca in November 2023BOSTON, Mass. and SHANGHAI, Oct. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eccogene, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation oral small molecule therapeutics for chronic cardiometabolic and inflammatory conditions, announced that it will receive a $60 million payment from AstraZeneca, which is being triggered by successfully achieving milestones related to the development of ECC5004/AZD5004 including the first patient dosed in the Phase 2b program. VISTA (NCT06579092) and SOLSTICE (NCT06579105) are two global Phase 2b multicenter trials assessing the efficacy and safety of ECC5004/AZD5004, administered orally, once daily, to participants who are obese or overweight with at least one weight-related comorbidity and type 2 diabetes, respectively. AstraZeneca licensed the global rights to ECC5004/AZD5004 from Eccogene in November 2023, for which the Company received an upfront payment of $185 million and can receive up to $1.825 billion in future milestones, as well as royalty payments. Eccogene retains co-development and co-commercialization rights to ECC5004/AZD5004 in China. “Obesity and its associated comorbidities affect over one billion people worldwide and continue to grow in prevalence. We are pleased to see ECC5004/AZD5004 – our internally discovered oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist – advancing into Phase 2b clinical trials for obesity and type 2 diabetes. This is an important milestone for Eccogene, as it provides strong validation for our translational research platform and underscores the efficiency and effectiveness of our close collaboration with AstraZeneca,” said Jingye Zhou, Chief Executive Officer of Eccogene. Sharon Barr, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, commented: “Rapidly progressing AZD5004 is a priority, as novel solutions are needed for patients to address interrelated cardiometabolic disease and the serious risks associated with type 2 diabetes, obesity or overweight with comorbidities. The start of our two Phase 2b trials marks a significant milestone in our efforts to provide an alternative to current injectable therapies that can be offered as a monotherapy as well as in combination for addressing interrelated diseases.” Leveraging its translational research platform and deep understanding of metabolic disease pathways – in addition to ECC5004/AZD5004 – Eccogene discovered and is advancing a pipeline of next-generation oral therapeutics that can be used alone or in combination with GLP-1 receptor agonists. This includes the Company’s clinical-stage THR-β agonist and SSAO inhibitor – both of which are differentiated compounds, and when used in combination, can potentially help augment the efficacy of GLP-1 to address comorbidities of obesity. Eccogene is also advancing several innovative preclinical programs, such as a small molecule GIP receptor modulator. About EccogeneEccogene is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation oral small molecule therapeutics for chronic cardiometabolic and inflammatory conditions. Since its founding, Eccogene has been dedicated to discovering safer and more effective oral therapies that can be used alone or synergistically with a GLP-1 receptor agonist to treat conditions beyond obesity. The Company’s diverse pipeline of small molecule candidates leverages its world-class expertise in translational research, small molecule discovery, and a deep understanding of diabetes, weight loss, and cardiometabolic disease pathways. Eccogene’s oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, ECC5004/AZD5004, is a potentially best-in-class asset, which was licensed to AstraZeneca. Eccogene also has clinical programs underway that target THR-β and SSAO, as well as preclinical programs targeting proven pathways, such as GIP. For more information, please visit www.eccogene.com or follow the Company on LinkedIn. Media Contact Amy BonannoLyra Strategic Advisoryabonanno@lyraadvisory.com

Dyslipidemia, a condition involving unhealthy levels of cholesterols and other fats in the blood, is a major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases, which make up the world’s biggest killer with 17.9 million deaths ​ per year. While there are treatments for dyslipidemia, they are not sufficient to control the blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ‘bad cholesterol,’ in many patients. The oral drug developed by CSPC is designed to prevent the production of a low-density lipoprotein called lipoprotein (a), which is involved in the transport of cholesterol in the bloodstream. By doing this, it may treat and prevent a range of cardiovascular diseases as a monotherapy or in combination with another small molecule candidate by AstraZeneca’s that depletes low-density lipoproteins by blocking an enzyme called PCSK9. According to the deal terms, CSPC is eligible for $100 million upfront in addition to up to $1.92 billion in payments based on development and commercialization milestones, plus tiered royalties. Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president and head of biopharmaceuticals R&D stated ​ that the asset “could help patients to more effectively manage their dyslipidemia and related cardiometabolic diseases. Given the scale of unmet need, with cardiovascular disease being a leading cause of death globally, advancing novel therapies that can be used alone or in combination to effectively address known risk factors and advance patient care is particularly important and a key part of our strategy.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('text-ad1'); }); The global market for cardiovascular disease treatments was worth a massive $144 billion in 2023 ​ and is projected to grow by 4% per year to $208 billion by 2030. The market growth is being fuelled by increasingly sedentary lifestyles across the population, leading to higher prevalences of cardiovascular diseases in both young and old people. This is the latest deal showcasing major interest from big pharma companies in cardiovascular disease treatments. AstraZeneca kicked off 2023 with a $1.8 billion takeover of the U.S. drug developer CinCor. Other examples include Novo Nordisk’s takeover of the German player Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in March this year and Bayer acquiring the European marketing rights to a small molecule cardiovascular disease treatment from Eidos Therapeutics of the U.S. for up to $310 million upfront in the same month. AstraZeneca also has major interest in the field of obesity, having inked another $2 billion licensing deal with China’s Eccogene last year for global rights to the latter’s oral once-daily glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist.