Biscayne Neurotherapeutics out-licenses Chinese rights to its novel antiepileptic

Clinical-stage US drug developer Biscayne Neurotherapeutics has signed a licensing agreement with Global Drug Development Centre (GDCC) China, for rights to Biscayne's lead antiepileptic product BIS-001ER in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

The agreement gives GDCC rights to BIS-001ER's intellectual property in these territories and provides for Biscayne to provide technical assistance to GDCC to facilitate the development, regulatory approval and marketing of the product. Biscayne Neurotherapeutics received an undisclosed upfront payment from GDCC and is also eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties on BIS-001ER sales. Financial details were not disclosed.

Separately, Biscayne announced initiation of a Phase II study of BIS-001ER in subjects with focal (onset) impaired awareness seizures (FIAS), the most common form of adult epilepsy. BIS-001ER is a novel agent that has shown promising results in preclinical models of severe epilepsy and successfully completed a Phase 1b safety trial late last year.