Aplagon Partners with Cadila Pharmaceuticals to Develop and Commercialize APAC First-in-Class Antith

Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden, Aplagon Oy ("Aplagon") and Cadila Pharmaceuticals Sweden AB today announced a development and commercialization agreement for Aplagon’s lead APAC product. APACs are proprietary, locally acting, potent antithrombotic products, which target blood vessel wall injury.

Under the agreement, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Sweden AB together with its parent company Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited, India ("Cadila Pharmaceuticals") will undertake formulation development and commercial-scale manufacturing of Aplagon’s APAC product. Aplagon and Cadila Pharmaceuticals will conduct multicentre, randomized Phase I/II and Phase II/III clinical studies in India in a selected first indication to prevent vascular intervention-related blood vessel occlusions. Following additional pre-clinical studies required in India, it is anticipated that the first Indian clinical trial will start recruiting in 2019.

Cadila Pharmaceuticals will co-invest a significant part of the projected costs of the clinical studies and will, in return, receive the commercialization rights for India and a share of future commercialization proceeds outside India. Aplagon will receive a royalty on Indian sales and will retain commercialization rights for APAC products in other jurisdictions outside India. The financial terms of the deal remain confidential.

APACs, which were discovered by Aplagon scientists, are heparin proteoglycan mimetics. These biologics are being developed as first-in-class treatments for unmet patient needs associated with the prevention and management of both the short- and long -term complications of vascular intervention-related blood vessel occlusions. In the first instance, Aplagon is pursuing the development of APACs for selected indications where no current treatments exist.

APACs are named after their unique dual antiplatelet (AP) and anticoagulant (AC) activity. However, they carry additional important and distinct properties compared with current antithrombotic therapies which are used systemically. APACs target the vascular injury site and act locally. This means they avoid systemic exposure and thereby reduce the risk of bleeds, the main side effect and safety hazard of antithrombotics. By beneficially influencing vascular smooth muscle cells in addition to inhibiting blood clotting, APACs are also able to address long-term complications of vascular interventions. 

"We are excited to partner with Cadila Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest privately held pharmaceutical companies in India. This collaboration will leverage Cadila Pharmaceutical’s excellent manufacturing operations as well as clinical and commercialization capabilities to facilitate the development of APAC through large Phase I-III clinical studies in a cost-efficient and timely way. This is a true win-win partnership for both parties," said Aki Prihti, CEO of Aplagon.

Hans Wigzell, Chairman, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Sweden AB, said, "As a first-in-class treatment with multiple mechanisms of action, APAC is a truly innovative product for the prevention of blood vessel occlusions related to vascular interventions.  We plan to pursue FDA fast track indications, which should result in reduced development time as well as reaching important patient populations for which no appropriate treatment exists. Our collaboration with Aplagon will also fulfill part of our mission to offer innovative products to patients in India at affordable prices."

About Aplagon Oy
Aplagon Oy is a pharmaceutical discovery and development company, based in Helsinki, Finland, developing proprietary locally acting antithrombotic products (APACs) for the management of vascular intervention-related blood vessel occlusions.
The Company has a strong network of collaborators among top scientists and laboratories in Europe and the US in the field of vascular medicine. It is backed by leading Finnish life science investors: Innovestor Ventures; Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation; and Helsinki University Funds.
Aplagon was founded in 2009 and is based on the pioneering research performed by Prof. Riitta Lassila and associates at Wihuri Research Institute in Helsinki, Finland on mast cell-derived heparin proteoglycans. Aplagon owns all Intellectual Property rights to the APAC molecule.

About Cadila Pharmaceuticals
Cadila Pharmaceuticals Sweden AB, located in Karolinska Institutet Science Park, Solna, is a fully owned subsidiary of Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited, India. Cadila Pharmaceuticals is one of the largest privately held pharmaceutical companies in India, headquartered at Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, India. Over the last six decades, it has been developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical products in over 45 therapeutic areas and selling and distributing these in over 100 countries around the world. It employs more than 7000 employees. Cadila Pharmaceuticals was the first Indian company to get IND approvals by USFDA for clinical trials to be conducted in India.