reMYND and Novo Nordisk have entered into a license agreement to further develop reMYND's ReS39 therapeutic program of diabetes. This program holds also promise for NASH and the metabolic syndrome.
reMYND's lead diabetes program ReS39 sustains and increases the endogenous insulin production capacity of the pancreas by restoring beta-cell function and insulin signalling in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes animal models.
"Even though symptomatic treatments work well, diabetes patients would greatly benefit from restoring durably their endogenous insulin production and/or increasing insulin sensitivity,” Koen De Witte, Managing Director of reMYND said. “Novo Nordisk's agility to step-in once they observed the effects of our ReS39 treatment in their own hands makes the road ahead all the more exciting."
Under the agreement, reMYND could receive up to 350 million Euros in research and milestone payments, plus royalties on resulting net sales.
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder resulting from a failure to manage glucose levels in the blood appropriately. In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), a loss of insulin sensitivity keeps increasing the stressful demand on beta-cells in the pancreas to produce insulin, until these cells ultimately degenerate. In Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM), beta-cells are directly attacked. The elevated glucose levels make diabetes a major cardiovascular risk factor and cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower limb amputation. The number of patients with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to 425 million, making diabetes the largest pandemic to hit our societies in the coming years.
With the support of Vlaams Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen (VLAIO) and Participatie Maatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV), reMYND has discovered and developed its lead diabetes program ReS39. These compounds sustain and increase the endogenous insulin production capacity and insulin signalling in diabetes animal models, providing fast symptomatic relief combined with durability. In addition, ReS39 reduces liver weight and its triglyceride content, making it potentially also relevant for NASH and the metabolic syndrome.
The program has previously shown a similar protective effect on dopamine producing neurons in Parkinson's mice, the most common motor disorder.
Currently the preclinical candidate is being profiled to take into pre-clinical toxicology studies.