Teijin Pharma grants exclusive license to Bioprojet

Japan-based Teijin Group’s (TYO: 3401) healthcare business, Teijin Pharma, has entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement with French drugmaker Bioprojet Pharma.

Under the terms of the agreement, Teijin Pharma grants Bioprojet exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize an investigational candidate for narcolepsy. Shares of the parent company closed up 3.8% at 1,500 yen following the announcement.

The investigational candidate is a highly potent and selective orexin 2 receptor agonist discovered at the Teijin Institute for Bio-medical Research in Tokyo. The candidate is expected to compensate for a deficiency in orexins, brain peptides that help sustain alertness and prevent rapid eye movement (REM) sleep from occurring at the wrong times. The mechanism of action (MoA) of this class of compounds has been demonstrated and could represent the next novel MoA for the treatment of narcolepsy and other sleep/wake disorders.