30th Jul 2019 14:42
(Alliance News) - BioPharma Credit PLC on Tuesday noted the termination of Sanofi SA's collaboration and licence agreement with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc over diabetes drug Zynquista.
BioPharma Credit, a life science debt investor, funded USD124.5 million of a USD150.0 million loan to Lexicon which matures in December 2020. BioPharma Credit said it has been told by Pharmakon Advisors that Lexicon still has "excess collateral value to fully support the loan".
Pharmakon Advisors is "actively monitoring the situation" and will provide further updates.
Zynquista was approved by the EU as an adjunct to insulin therapy in type 1 diabetics who have inadequate glycaemic control. It is not approved elsewhere for diabetes type 1 or 2.
Sanofi's termination - a process which could "take several weeks or months" - does not hurt Xermelo, which is marketed by Lexicon in the UK and partnered elsewhere with Ipsen.
Xermelo was approved by the US Food & Drug Administration in February 2017 and by the European Commission in September 2017 to treat carcinoid syndrome diarrhoea in adults.
Shares in BioPharma Credit were down 0.5% at USD1.04 on Tuesday.