Pharma Companies Amarin and Mochida Announce Collaboration

On Jun 12, 2018

Amarin Corporation plc, a biopharmaceutical company located in Bedminster, has entered into a multi-faceted collaboration with Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., an integrated Japanese pharmaceutical company. The collaboration is focused on the development and commercialization of early-stage drug products and indications based on the omega-3 acid, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). Amarin and Mochida are recognized worldwide as the leading, innovation-driven companies committed to the research and development of EPA-based drug products to treat the needs of tens of millions of patients who are at-risk of cardiovascular disease.

Amarin developed and markets Vascepa® (icosapent ethyl) capsules in the United States, the first and only FDA-approved, prescription pure EPA drug product. Vascepa is indicated as an adjunct to diet to reduce triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe (≥500 mg/dL) hypertriglyceridemia. Amarin’s clinical development program for Vascepa includes the REDUCE-IT cardiovascular outcomes study, an 8,175-patient study commenced in 2011.1 REDUCE-IT is the first multinational cardiovascular outcomes study evaluating the effect of prescription pure EPA therapy, or any triglyceride lowering therapy, as an add-on to statins in patients with high cardiovascular risk who, despite stable statin therapy, have elevated triglyceride levels (150-499 mg/dL). Amarin expects to announce top-line results of this landmark study before the end of Q3 2018.

Mochida is an integrated Japanese pharmaceutical company that developed and markets a prescription pure EPA drug product, Epadel, as a treatment for hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis obliterans in Japan.  Mochida sponsored and successfully completed a cardiovascular outcomes trial with Epadel in Japan, JELIS.  JELIS was the world’s first large-scale randomized controlled cardiovascular outcomes trial of a prescription pure EPA drug product and showed beneficial effects of the drug in further reducing cardiovascular events in statin-treated, hypercholesterolemic Japanese patients.2, 3, 4

“We are excited to enter into a collaboration with Mochida given our common mission to create preventative healthcare solutions on a worldwide basis, and our mutual commitment to continued innovation in the EPA research and development area,” stated John F. Thero, president and chief executive officer of Amarin. “This collaboration seeks to leverage the decades of successful research and development experience at Amarin and Mochida towards expediting the development of new products and indications.”

“Mochida is delighted to partner with Amarin,” stated Mr. Naoyuki Mochida, president of Mochida. “Both Mochida and Amarin have demonstrated strong capabilities in developing and commercializing EPA-based products and we believe that together we can achieve much more to improve patient care in the years to come.”

Among other terms in the agreement, Amarin obtained an exclusive license to certain Mochida intellectual property to advance Amarin’s interests in the United States and certain other territories and the parties will collaborate to research and develop new products and indications based on EPA for Amarin’s commercialization in the United States and certain other territories. The potential new product and indication opportunities contemplated under this agreement are in relatively early stages of development.

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