Mixed bag of product news for Flamel
on an injectable once-daily insulin, but loses a contract with
GlaxoSmithKline.
For French drug delivery company Flamel Technologies, this week has so far been a case of 'win one, lose one.'
It secured the go-ahead for its deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb for a new formulation of insulin, but also learned that GlaxoSmithKline was pulling out of a collaboration for an antibiotic.
Yesterday, the waiting period under antitrust legislation for the B-MS deal expired, removing the last remaining obstacle to the latter company acquiring rights to the product, called Basulin. B-MS licensed rights to the once-daily injectable formulation of insulin, just entering Phase III testing, in an agreement valued at up to $165 million in August.
Under the terms of that agreement, Flamel now stands to receive $20 million in an upfront payment from B-MS, which may help soften the blow of losing its GSK contract.
GSK had signed up Flamel to apply its Micropump controlled-release and taste-masking technology to a sachet formulation of Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate), a blockbuster antibiotic. Yesterday Flamel revealed that GSK would exit from the agreement as of 14 January 2004.
"GSK has informed us that they have decided to stop the Augmentin sachet project for commercial reasons," commented Dr Gerard Soula, Flamel's chief executive.
He stressed that there were no issues related to the performance of the Micropump technology, and noted that Flamel continues to collaborate with GSK on a Micropump formulation of Coreg (carvedilol), a beta blocker for treating congestive heart failure.
