Toray Industries, Inc. (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Akihiro Nikkaku; hereinafter referred to as "Toray") and BONAC Corporation (headquarters: Kurume-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture; President: Hirotake Hayashi; hereinafter referred to as "BONAC") today announced that the two companies on December 25, 2015 signed a licensing agreement regarding BNC-1021 (BONAC’s development code)/TRK-250 (Toray’s development code), which is a nucleic acid drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis*1 developed by BONAC, for the Japanese market. In addition, Toray on December 29, 2015 accepted BONAC’s new shares issued in third-party allocation. Through this alliance, Toray and BONAC will pursue the development and commercialization of the agent in Japan and aim to contribute to the medical industry.
Nucleic acid pharmaceuticals are agents that act on disease-causing genes and proteins by utilizing the action of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). Nucleic acid medicine has been increasingly attracting attention as a next-generation medicine following low-molecular-weight drugs*2 and antibody drugs*3 due to its possibility as a new type of medication with fewer side effects.
BNC-1021/TRK-250 aims to inhibit the progression of fibrosis by selectively suppressing the expression of TGF-β1 protein at the gene level, which is a key growth factor involved in lung fibrosis. One of the features of the agent is that it is a single strand long-chain nucleic acid with a unique molecular structure employing BONAC’s proprietary nucleic acid platform, and it is expected to be a new nucleic acid medication that has overcome the issue of stability, an issue with nucleic acid pharmaceutical so far. Moreover, it is an inhaler administered directly to the lung, which is expected to carry the agent efficiently to the target organ.
In accordance with this agreement, Toray and BONAC will develop the agent and Toray acquires the exclusive development rights, sales rights and manufacturing rights (excluding those of the active pharmaceutical ingredient) in Japan. Along with this, BONAC will receive up-front, milestone payment corresponding to the progress of development and a running royalty on product sales.
Toray is enhancing research and technology development capability to expand its business in the life innovation field. In drug discovery research, Toray is conducting research on synthetic medicine and biological medicine. Taking the introduction of BNC-1021 as an opportunity, the company will expand its efforts in nucleic acid medicine and contribute to further business expansion.
BONAC is developing its business using its proprietary nucleic acid platform with nucleic acid chemical technology at its base. It will continue to work on research and development so as to contribute to development of nucleic acid medicine in the future.
