Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Friday, July 24 2020 - 08:24
AsiaNet
Menarini Group and Radius Health Announce Global License Agreement for the Development and Commercialization of Elacestrant
WALTHAM, Mass. and FLORENCE, Italy, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/--

- Menarini licenses global development and commercialization rights of 
elacestrant, an oral SERD currently in late stage Phase 3 development 
- Elacestrant further strengthens Menarini's global oncology portfolio, 
recently bolstered by the acquisition of Stemline Therapeutics in the U.S. 
- Radius will receive $30M as an upfront payment and up to $320M in additional 
milestones along with tiered low to mid-teen percentage royalties 

The Menarini Group and Radius Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: RDUS) announced today that 
the companies have entered into an exclusive global license agreement for 
development and commercialization of elacestrant.  

Elacestrant is an oral SERD, a selective estrogen receptor degrader, currently 
being evaluated in the EMERALD Phase 3 study as hormonal treatment for 
postmenopausal women and men with advanced ER+/HER2- breast cancer.

Under the agreement, Menarini Group will be responsible for worldwide 
commercialization of elacestrant, after the completion of EMERALD Phase 3 study 
and, assuming positive results, successful registration of elacestrant.

Elcin Barker Ergun, Chief Executive Officer of Menarini Group, commented: 
"Elacestrant is a perfect addition to our global oncology portfolio following 
our recent acquisition of Stemline Therapeutics and entering the US 
biopharmaceuticals market. Oral SERDs can potentially lead to new treatment 
paradigms in breast cancer and we look forward to advancing elacestrant's 
development to provide novel options that can help patients."

Kelly Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Radius commented, "Menarini will be a 
terrific global partner on this program and, given their recent investment and 
expansion in the oncology space, we are extremely pleased to have completed 
this transaction with them." Martin further commented that "this transaction is 
a significant step for Radius and provides us with flexibility in moving 
forward."
As part of the agreement, Radius will receive an upfront payment of $30 million 
and up to $320 million in additional payments based on the successful 
achievement of future development and sales milestones.  Menarini Group will 
make tiered, low to mid-teen percentage royalty payments to Radius Health on 
global net sales.  
Radius will continue to be responsible for the conduct and completion of the 
Phase 3 EMERALD study through NDA filing. Costs associated with this activity 
will be reimbursed by Menarini Group.  

About Menarini Group

Menarini Group is a leading international pharmaceutical company with a 
presence in 140 countries, including a direct presence in over 70 countries. 
Its global platform extends throughout Europe, U.S., Central America, Africa, 
the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and generates over $4.2 billion in annual 
sales. Menarini is committed to oncology, with an already commercialized 
product in the US and several new investigational drugs in development for the 
treatment of a variety of tumors. For over 130 years, Menarini has also been 
investing in the development, production and distribution of pharmaceuticals to 
serve patients and physicians around the world with a full portfolio of 
products covering a number of different therapeutic areas.

About Radius

Radius is a science-driven fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that is 
committed to developing and commercializing innovative endocrine therapeutics. 
Radius' lead product, TYMLOS (abaloparatide) injection, was approved by the 
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of postmenopausal women 
with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture. The Radius clinical pipeline 
includes the investigational use of abaloparatide injection for the treatment 
of men with osteoporosis, an investigational abaloparatide-patch for potential 
use in osteoporosis; the investigational drug elacestrant (RAD1901) for 
potential use in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer out-licensed to 
Menarini Group; and the investigational drug RAD140, a non-steroidal, selective 
androgen receptor modulator (SARM) under investigation for potential use in 
hormone-receptor positive breast cancer. For more information, please visit 
www.radiuspharm.com.

About Elacestrant (RAD1901)

Elacestrant is a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), which is being 
evaluated for potential use as a once daily oral treatment in patients with 
advanced estrogen receptor positive, HER2 negative (HER2-), breast cancer, the 
most common form of the disease. Fulvestrant is the only SERD that has been 
approved and marketed in this indication and has generated over $1 billion 
worldwide revenues. Unlike fulvestrant, which is administered as an 
intramuscular injection, elacestrant, if approved, has the potential to improve 
the patient experience with oral dosing. In addition, preclinical data have 
shown elacestrant to have greater antitumor activity than fulvestrant in in 
vivo models suggesting the potential for improved efficacy in patients. In a 
Phase 1 study with a heavily pre-treated population (n=50), elacestrant had an 
acceptable safety profile with the most commonly reported adverse events being 
low grade nausea and dyspepsia, and demonstrated single-agent activity with a 
19.4% objective response rate (ORR) and 4.5 months progression-free survival 
(PFS). Encouraging activity was seen in patients whose tumors harbored ESR1 
mutations as well as in patients whose disease had progressed after prior 
treatment with fulvestrant or CDK4/6 inhibitors.
Studies completed to date indicate that elacestrant has the potential for use 
as a single agent or in combination with other therapies for the treatment of 
breast cancer. 

About EMERALD Phase 3 Study

The EMERALD Phase 3 trial is a randomized, open label, active-controlled study 
evaluating elacestrant as second- or third-line monotherapy in 
advanced/metastatic ER-positive (ER+)/HER2- breast cancer patients. The study 
will enroll approximately 460 patients who have received prior treatment with 
one or two lines of endocrine therapy, including a cyclin-dependent kinase 
(CDK) 4/6 inhibitor. Patients in the study will be randomized to receive either 
elacestrant or the investigator's choice of an approved hormonal agent. The 
primary endpoint of the study will be progression-free survival (PFS) in the 
overall patient population and in patients with estrogen receptor 1 gene (ESR1) 
mutations. Secondary endpoints will include evaluation of overall survival 
(OS), objective response rate (ORR), and duration of response (DOR). Top-line 
data from the EMERALD study is expected to be reported in the second half of 
2021.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of 
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All statements contained 
in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should 
be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation 
statements regarding the potential market opportunity for elacestrant, 
including the potential achievement of development and sales milestones related 
to elacestrant; our expectations regarding the completion of, and timing of 
results from, the EMERALD study; our expectations regarding an NDA filing in 
the U.S. and other regulatory filings globally for elacestrant; our 
expectations regarding our license agreement with Menarini for elacestrant; and 
the potential clinical uses and therapeutic and other benefits of elacestrant, 
abaloparatide-SC, abaloparatide-patch, and RAD140.
These forward-looking statements are based on management's current 
expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve 
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may 
cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially 
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or 
implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the 
following: Our inability to ensure the timing of results from the EMERALD trial 
or that its primary endpoint will be met; Menarini's inability to ensure that 
elacestrant will obtain regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized, 
if approved, including as a result of risks related to coverage, pricing and 
reimbursement, manufacturing, supply and distribution, and potential adverse 
impacts on the EMERALD trial or Menarini's business from the ongoing COVID-19 
pandemic; risks related to competitive products; risks of litigation or other 
challenges regarding intellectual property rights; risks that adverse side 
effects of elacestrant will be identified during commercialization, if 
approved, or during development activities. These and other important risks and 
uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission, or SEC, including under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual 
Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2019 and subsequent 
filings with the SEC, could cause actual results to differ materially from 
those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release.

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SOURCE: Menarini I.F.R.
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