The companies have formed a partnership to explore ways Microchips Biotech's devices can be paired with Teva's products to improve clinical outcomes for patients on chronic drug therapies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Teva will pay Microchips Biotech $35 million upfront in the form of an equity investment and a technology access fee.
Lexington, Mass.-based Microchips Biotech is the developer of a device, made up of microchip arrays, that can store hundreds of therapeutic doses of a drug for various periods of time, ranging from months to years — and release each dose at precise times. The device can be programmed to release drugs on a predetermined schedule.
Michael Hayden, M.D., Ph.D., Teva’s president of global research and development and the company’s chief technology officer, described the microchip-based implant as “truly at the intersection of digital technology and medicine and the future of drug delivery for patients who cannot tolerate needles, require regular self-administered injections or where compliance is critical to outcomes.”
According to the companies, the partnership will have an initial focus on one undisclosed disease area. Under the agreement, Teva has the option to later expand the program into several additional therapeutic areas. As those programs advance, Microchips Biotech will receive development and commercial milestone payments from Teva and royalties on future product sales. Microchips Biotech also will receive funding to develop products for any future additional indications Teva may develop. The amount of all the payments is being kept confidential
Teva, which is based in Israel and has its North American headquarters in North Wales, Pa., will be responsible for mid- and late-stage clinical testing and regulatory filings for products developed using the technology.
Cheryl R. Blanchard, CEO of Microchips Biotech, told the Philadelphia Business Journal that she is hopeful the Teva partnership will be the first of many alliances with pharmaceutical makers across a broad range of therapeutic areas.