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Lipoxen Announces $75M Agreement with Baxter to Develop New Blood Clotting Factors

15 December 2006

London, UK, 15 December, 2006 – Lipoxen PLC (AIM: LPX) today announced that the company has entered into an exclusive worldwide development and licence agreement with a subsidiary of Baxter International Inc. to develop improved, longer-acting forms of blood-clotting factors. 

The signing of this agreement by Baxter triggers a $1 million payment to Lipoxen, and the agreement includes further clinical and regulatory milestone payments to Lipoxen potentially worth up to a total of $75 million, plus royalties on future product sales.

This announcement follows a 12-month research evaluation announced 15 August, 2005, that focused on linking Lipoxen’s PolyXen® drug delivery technology with Baxter’s proprietary proteins.

Lipoxen’s PolyXen® protein drug delivery technology links therapeutic proteins, or peptides, to the naturally occurring polymer polysialic acid to prolong protein stability and biological half-life, and to improve solubility and immunological characteristics while maintaining biological activity and minimizing toxicity. Conjugating PolyXen® to therapeutic blood-clotting factors aims to improve pharmacokinetic profile and extend active life in order to reduce the frequency of injections required to treat blood-clotting disorders such as haemophilia A.

M. Scott Maguire, CEO of Lipoxen, said: “We are very excited to sign this significant agreement with Baxter, our second major development agreement in the past year. Over the course of the 12-month evaluation period, our PolyXen® technology has indicated its potential for improving the delivery and effectiveness of Baxter’s proprietary proteins and thereby represents an important validation of this protein drug delivery technology.”

“Our agreement with Lipoxen furthers Baxter’s legacy of scientific innovation and leveraging partnerships in the area of blood-free recombinant protein processing,” said Hartmut J. Ehrlich, MD., Vice President, global research and development, for Baxter’s BioScience business.  “Extending the duration of a blood-clotting treatment in the body is important for both patients and physicians when evaluating haemophilia therapy.”

Earlier this week at the American Society of Hematology 48th annual meeting, Baxter presented preclinical data from ongoing research studies aimed at developing a novel, longer-acting form of factor VIII, a protein essential for the normal clotting of blood.  Baxter will continue to conduct preclinical research before moving these programs forward to clinical trials.