UCB licenses global rights to tozadenant in Parkinson's disease from Biotie

Finland-based Biotie Therapies (Nasdaq-OMX: BTH1V) says that UCB (Euronext Brussels; UCB), Belgium’s largest drugmaker, has licensed worldwide exclusive rights to Biotie's tozadenant (SYN115), a selective inhibitor of the adenosine 2a receptor, currently in development for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

As a result, Biotie will receive a one-time fee payment of $20 million from UCB. In addition, the parties have amended their original license agreement, such that Biotie will now conduct Phase III development of tozadenant in return for additional payments from UCB relating to defined development, regulatory and commercialization milestones.

Iris Loew-Friedrich, chief medical officer and executive vice president of UCB, commented: "Biotie is a valuable partner and the decision to in-license follows the positive top-line results of the Phase IIb study. We were impressed by the performance of Biotie and decided that they are the ideal party to continue to spearhead the development of tozadenant. We look forward to collaborating with Biotie in the on-going clinical development. With the addition of the novel compound tozadenant to UCB's development portfolio we should be able to further contribute to the advancement of the treatment and care for people living with Parkinson's disease."