Hydra Biosciences and Pfizer sign global R&D novel ion-channel agreement

Hydra Biosciences has signed a collaboration agreement with Pfizer Global R&D to develop TRPV3-antagonist product candidates for pain.

Per the agreement, US-based Hydra will receive upfront and success-based development milestone payments of USD 195m for the first developed product launched and more for additional approved indications.

Pfizer will fund all R&D under the agreement and will receive exclusive access to Hydra's current TRPV3 patents as well as an exclusive license to commercialise any compound from the collaboration. Once the products are on the market, Pfizer will pay worldwide royalties to Hydra.

Recent research on Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) antagonists indicates that they may act as multimodal signal integrators. Since TRP channels are only distantly related to voltage gated channels and homology among TRP family members is quite low, it is anticipated that specific and selective modulators may be more readily identified in this family than in other ion channel groups, limiting the potential for off-target effects, which have proven problematic in other ion channel families, such as Vioxx (rofecoxib) and other COX-2 inhibitors.