Daiichi Sankyo plans to develop and commercialize Translational Sciences’ Phase I blood clot dissolving agent TS23 under a license agreement whose value was not disclosed.

Daiichi Sankyo said it will pay Translational Sciences unspecified fees, payments tied to achieving milestones, and royalties in return for exclusive global rights to TS23.

The agreement reflects Daiichi Sankyo’s strategy of expanding its portfolio in drugs designed to prevent and treat thrombosis, the pharma said.

Among Daiichi Sankyo’s marketed anti-clotting offerings are the novel oral anticoagulant or “NOAC” Savaysa® (edoxaban), approved by the FDA in January; and Effient (prasugrel), aP2Y12 platelet inhibitor which the company co-markets with Eli Lilly.

“Daiichi Sankyo recognized the great potential of this novel therapy. We believe they have the expertise and resources to fully develop it for the millions of patients each year who suffer cardiovascular disease and stroke,” Guy Reed, M.D., CSO/CEO of Translational Sciences, said in a statement.

Headquartered in Memphis, TN, Translational Sciences has won funding toward development of first-in-class TS23 from two NIH institutes under the Small Business Innovation Research program.

The National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute has awarded the company Phase I and II awards totaling nearly $1.7 million between 2010 and 2012, with the latter award funding a clinical Phase I study designed to examine the safety and biomarker efficacy of TS23 against blood clots in normal volunteers.

Also, the National Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke awarded nearly $3.3 million in Phase I and Phase II awards between 2011 and 2012, toward clinical studies assessing TS23 in stroke.

“Distinct from existing agents or agents in development: TS23 occupies a different therapeutic space, than any anticoagulants (e.g., heparins, or direct thrombin or factor Xa inhibitors etc.),” Translational Sciences said in a statement accompanying a presentation during the 2015 BIO International Convention, held June 15-18 in Philadelphia. “TS23 rapidly dissolves clots in acute cardiovascular diseases; anticoagulants inhibit blood clot formation but do not dissolve clots. However, TS23 is also compatible with anticoagulants in the therapeutic process.”

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