Can-Fite Signs Multi-Million Dollar Distribution Agreement for Piclidenoson in 3 European Countries with Gebro Holdings
Business Wire Business Wire•January 8, 2018
Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address cancer, liver and inflammatory diseases, today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with Gebro Holding GmBH to distribute Can-Fite’s lead drug candidate, Piclidenoson (CF101), for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis in 3 European countries including Spain, Switzerland and Austria, upon receipt of regulatory approvals.
Under the terms of the distribution agreement, Gebro is making a total upfront and milestone payment of approximately $2,000,000 to Can-Fite. In addition, the agreement provides that additional payments of up to approximately $7,000,000 will be received by Can-Fite upon the achievement of certain regulatory, launch and sales milestones plus double-digit percentage royalty payments on net sales.
Gebro Pharma is a privately-owned leading pharma group founded in Austria in the late 1940s with over 500 employees. Its headquarters are located in Fieberbrunn (Austria), where Gebro is a top local leading player, with commercial operations in Spain and Switzerland. In Spain, Gebro is ranked among the top growing companies within the Pharma sector. The therapeutic focus of Gebro is pain with a strong franchise in rheumatology and in Spain, Gebro is ranked nº1 in rheumatology and pain. Alongside, rheumatology and pain, Gebro has also built a portfolio around dermatology, urology, respiratory, GI, and CV depending on the territory.
“We are very excited to enter into this agreement with Gebro and believe that they are the right partner for us to penetrate the European market,” stated Sari Fishman, VP Business Development of Can-Fite. “We believe that Gebro’s commitment to us is a strong validation of our development efforts to date.”
Can-Fite recently initiated patient enrolment for its Phase III ACRobat trial of Piclidenoson for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis therapeutic market is dominated by biological drugs that are primarily administered via intravenous injection (IV) and have potential side effects. Rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis are huge unmet need markets, where rheumatoid arthritis is estimated to reach $35B in 2020 and psoriasis is forecast to reach $9B in 2018.
Upon receipt of payments due at signing of the agreement, the Company believes that its shareholders’ equity is above $4.0 million.
