UNION has agreed to pay up to $210m to TFF Pharmaceuticals, to support the development, regulatory approvals and in sales-related milestone payments

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TFF Pharmaceuticals licences its TFF technology to UNION. (Credit: Scott Graham on Unsplash.)

TFF Pharmaceuticals has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with UNION therapeutics for its Thin Film Freezing (TFF) technology, used along with niclosamide.

Under the terms of the licencing agreement, UNION gets an option to obtain an exclusive global license to TFF Pharmaceuticals’ TFF technology, used along with oral and inhalation versions of niclosamide, to support potential Covid-19 and other niclosamide-based therapies.

UNION has agreed to pay up to $210m to TFF Pharmaceuticals, to support the development, regulatory approvals and in sales-related milestone payments, along with royalties on product sales.

Also, the companies have agreed to collaborate on obtaining government support to fund the development of niclosamide-based products for the treatment of Covid-19.

TFF Pharmaceuticals president and CEO Glenn Mattes said: “We are very excited to be entering into this agreement with UNION therapeutics, a company that has had an extensive history working with niclosamide and the compound class in a number of therapeutic areas.

“We believe this agreement will help speed up efforts to investigate the promising use of niclosamide for potential Covid-19 therapies using our breakthrough TFF technology to provide a viable therapeutic option with a new delivery method.”

TFF technology is used in developing niclosamide-based products for Covid-19 treatment

The US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm is engaged in developing and commercialising advanced drug and products, by leveraging its patented TFF technology platform.

The TFF technology is said to improve the solubility and absorption of water-soluble drugs, to generate dry powder particles that target inhalation delivery, specifically in respiratory medicine.

Niclosamide is an oral anthelminthic drug, initially approved by the US FDA in 1982, for use in humans and is included in the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines.

The drug has been identified to have the potential to treat various viral infections including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Zika virus, based on its inexpensive cost and low in-vivo toxicity profile as an FDA-approved drug.

Also, Niclosamide has demonstrated promising antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-23 and completely reduced the viral antigen synthesis at a concentration of 1.56 μM.

UNION therapeutics has worked on niclosamide for over six years and is currently studying the drug under a Phase 2b clinical trial in patients with atopic dermatitis.

UNION CSO and co-founder Morten Sommer said: “Our hope is for the consolidated efforts under the agreement to enable UNION to leverage our extensive knowledge of niclosamide and further accelerate the development of treatment options to a broader range of COVID-19 patients.

“We look forward to working with the team at TFF Pharmaceuticals to leverage the TFF technology platform in bringing new treatment options to Covid-19 patients.”