C4X Discovery and Sanofi ink €414m IL-17A blocker R&D contract

The company's subsidiary C4X Discovery Ltd got €7m upfront with potential to gain €414m in total for the global commercialisation rights for its preclinical C4XD oral IL-17A inhibitor programme. Under the terms of the agreement, C4XD could receive  €11m in pre-clinical milestones, in addition to single digit royalties.

Under the license, Sanofi will develop and commercialise an oral therapy for the treatment of chronci inflammatory diseases, a multi-billion dollar market.  The IL-17 family of cytokines are strong inducers of inflammation and are implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases including psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.  Current treatments targeting IL-17 are monoclonal antibodies administered by injection. The company believed that ab oral small molecule therapy might increase therapy compliance.  C

According to Clive Dix, CEO of C4X Discovery,the psoriasis market alone is estimated to be worth US$24bn per annum by 2027,