Tm Bioscience Acquires key Sepsis Biomarkers from Sirius Genomics
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
Tm Bioscience Corporation has announced it has signed an agreement with Sirius Genomics for an exclusive commercial license to patents from Sirius for specific biomarkers related to drugs used to treat severe sepsis including vasopressin.
Tm Bioscience will incorporate these markers into a diagnostic for use by critical care physicians which it expects to launch in the second half of 2007.
"Sepsis is a critical healthcare issue. One out of every three patients who develop severe sepsis will die within a month. There are limited treatments for severe sepsis," said Greg Hines, President and CEO of Tm Bioscience.
"By applying the genetic discoveries made by Sirius Genomics, we hope to develop an innovative genetic test that could be used to identify patients who are more likely to respond well to the two main drugs used to treat severe sepsis. Such tests could help save lives."
"Our test in combination with related drug therapies could become the standard of care for sepsis treatment," said Jim Pelot, CFO of Tm Bioscience.
"Given the large market potential of this test as well as its potential importance in the selection of drugs and therapies that impact patient morbidity and mortality, we expect this test to achieve notable market penetration across North America and Europe."
"We anticipate that this product could generate in excess of $100 million in revenues in the aggregate over the first three years following commercial launch."
"In the US, as many people die from sepsis as from heart attacks. This test could be a major breakthrough in the treatment of sepsis and will be invaluable to critical care physicians who deal with the challenges of treating sepsis on a daily basis," said Dr. Jim Russell, Chief Medical Officer of Sirius.
"We are excited to work with Tm Bioscience to bring this important product to market so that our genetic discoveries can benefit patients directly and save lives."
The agreement covers a series of possible mutations that can occur in the genes associated with two proteins, protein C and arginine vasopressin.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tm Bioscience will provide an upfront payment of $4 million which will be provided to Sirius in two equal installments in the second and third quarters of 2006.
These upfronts will be repaid from net earnings on commercial sales of the severe sepsis test, with the remaining earnings shared equally by Sirius and Tm over the term of the agreement.
