Chiesi and Oak Hill Bio ink deal to develop neonatal therapy OHB-607

Italian family-controlled drugmaker Chiesi Farmaceutici and Cambridge, USA-based Oak Hill Bio have executed a license and development agreement to develop, manufacture, and commercialize OHB-607, an investigational drug candidate being developed to treat complications of extremely premature birth.

OHB-607 is a recombinant version of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a key driver of fetal growth and development, and its binding protein, IGFBP-3. For the developing fetus, mothers are the primary source of IGF-1. No financial terms of the collaboration hve been disclosed.

Babies born at less than 28 weeks gestational age have low levels of IGF-1 and face high risk of severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), which may lead to chronic lung disease.