ScinoPharm and CVie Therapeutics to jointly develop new generation istaroxime

Taiwanese companies ScinoPharm Taiwan (TWSE: 1789) and CVie Therapeutics have initiated a discovery and development collaboration to identify the new generation compound to istaroxime, CVie's acute heart failure treatment currently in late Phase IIb trials in Italy and China.

This collaboration marks the first time for ScinoPharm to collaborate with an external partner, CVie, from a discovery (pre-IND) perspective. Istaroxime was originally developed by Italian drugmaker Sigma Tau, from which CVie acquired rights in 2012.

According to the agreement, the primary goal of the new generation compound is to possess oral bioavailability while maintaining istaroxime's unique dual luso-inotropic function. The successful candidate may be positioned for both acute and chronic heart failure and is expected to have a larger market than that of istaroxime. ScinoPharm will provide medicinal chemistry design and synthesis, while CVie will apply their vast biological know-how to screen and identify the new candidate. Further in vivo efficacy will be conducted in animal models of chronic heart failure. When the new compound enters the clinical development phases, ScinoPharm aims to be the primary chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) service provider to furnish material for clinical phases and beyond.