Shire Licenses 3 Drugs from Amicus

Shire plc has licensed three drugs in development from Amicus Therapeutics. The non-U.S. rights cover Amigal for Fabry disease (Phase II), Plicera for Gaucher disease (Phase II) and AT2220 for Pompe disease (Phase I).

Shire’s chief executive officer, Matthew Emmens, remarked, “Amicus’ pharmacological chaperone compounds have the potential to be an excellent addition to our current enzyme replacement therapy business, which includes Replagal for Fabry disease, Elaprase for Hunter syndrome, and GA-GCB in Phase III development for Gaucher disease. In addition, it provides an opportunity for Shire to enter the market for Pompe disease. This technology should provide significant benefit to patients with these serious genetic diseases.”
 
Financial terms of the license are dependent on the successful development and commercialization of the products. Shire will pay Amicus an upfront fee of $50 million, along with development and sales-based milestones adding up to $390 million. Shire will also pay royalties on net sales of the products, with tiered, double-digit royalty rates. The companies will pursue a joint development program toward market approval in the U.S. and Europe; expenses for this program will be shared 50/50.