SiteOne Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing non-opioid treatments to address pain, cough and other conditions involving hypersensitivity of the nervous system, announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will work together to advance potent and selective inhibitors of sodium ion channel 1.7 (NaV1.7) as non-opioid therapeutics for the treatment of pain. SiteOne will be responsible for research and early preclinical development activities, with Vertex responsible for subsequent development, and commercialization. SiteOne will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, and royalties from Vertex if the program succeeds.
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“Pain is an extremely common medical condition that severely affects quality of life. The existing standard of care for pain treatment relies heavily on opioid analgesics, which are not always effective and carry a high risk of side-effects, dependence, and abuse. A core mission of SiteOne is to identify non-opioid pain medicines that will be able to safely and effectively treat many different types of pain and other neurological conditions without the risk of dependence or abuse,” said John Mulcahy, Ph.D., CEO of SiteOne. “We are excited to begin this partnership with Vertex, which has a long-standing interest in non-opioid analgesic drug development. This agreement will support the advancement of SiteOne’s portfolio of exquisitely-selective NaV1.7 inhibitors across multiple indications.”
NaV1.7 is a type of sodium channel that is highly expressed in peripheral nerve fibers that play a critical role in the generation and conduction of pain signals. The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is responsible for alerting the body against surrounding harmful stimuli. However, following insult or injury, the PNS often becomes sensitized, resulting in acute or chronic hypersensitivity disorders such as, pain, itch, and cough.
SiteOne Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing novel therapeutics targeting NaV1.7, NaV1.8 and other ion channels to treat hypersensitivity disorders. Since its inception, SiteOne has been dedicated to the development of safe and effective pain therapeutics without the significant addiction potential and side effects of opioids. The company is also advancing additional novel drug candidates that exhibit precise selectivity for individual sodium channel subtypes to treat other hypersensitivity disorders such as chronic cough and chronic ocular surface pain. SiteOne’s therapeutic candidates are highly selective ion channel modulators.