NEW YORK, NEW YORK (September 10, 2003) — Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and QDose, a joint venture between MicroDose Technologies, Inc. and Quadrant Drug Delivery, Ltd., today announced that the companies have entered into a licensing agreement for the QDose inhaled insulin product.
According to the terms of the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will obtain worldwide exclusive rights to the product and, with support from QDose, will take the lead on development, manufacturing and commercialization of the licensed product.
“MicroDose is pleased to collaborate with Bristol-Myers Squibb, a recognized leader in diabetes treatment with proven development and commercialization capabilities,” said Anand V. Gumaste, president and chief executive officer, MicroDose Technologies. “The QDose inhaled insulin product is currently in Phase I development. By coupling the MicroDose novel dry powder inhaler (DPI) and Quadrant engineered particles with the strong product development, marketing and sales capabilities provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb, we are confident that we can rapidly advance this product through the development process.”
According to the terms of the license agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay a $1 million upfront payment to QDose and will pay an additional $29 million in milestone payments based on the achievement of certain development and regulatory events. Bristol-Myers Squibb will also pay royalties on sales.
“The incidence of diabetes mellitus continues to increase at a rapid rate,” said Raj Uppal, chief executive officer, Quadrant Drug Delivery. “The disease, as well as the complications associated with the condition, place a tremendous burden on health care systems throughout the world. We are pleased to be able to participate in this joint venture and to utilize the Quadrant Drug Delivery proprietary dry powder formulations of insulin in developing new, patient friendly and convenient approaches to managing diabetes.”
The World Health Organization projects an increase in diabetes cases from 177 million worldwide in 2003 to 370 million by 2030. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that one in three 3 Americans born in 2000 will eventually develop the condition.
“As a leader in the field of diabetes, Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to developing therapy options that may help patients to better manage their condition,” said Peter R. Dolan, chairman and chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “Through this collaboration with MicroDose Technologies and Quadrant Drug Delivery, we hope to further develop an inhaled insulin product that may offer patients an alternative route of administration that either complements or replaces insulin injections.”
MicroDose Technologies, Inc., based in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, is a privately held drug delivery company, developing advanced pulmonary, solid oral dosage, and needle free transdermal products for the pharmaceutical industry. The MicroDose DPI is a handheld, low cost, breath activated device, which makes novel use of piezo electronics to efficiently deliver a broad range of compounds independent of inhalation effort. The device is the first totally electronic DPI and represents the next generation in inhaler technology both in performance and ease of use.
Quadrant Drug Delivery, Ltd. is a privately owned company based in Nottingham, U.K. It provides specialist drug formulation and stabilization technologies to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with particular emphasis on dry powder drug delivery to the lungs. Quadrant’s proprietary approaches can improve product performance by increasing the efficiency of delivery of medicines to the lungs and systemic circulation as well as stabilizing labile molecules offering the potential for room temperature stable products.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and related health care products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve significant risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the product described in this release will receive regulatory approval, or that it will prove to be commercially successful. This and other risk factors are discussed in the Company’s offering documents and in the Company’s periodic communications to shareholders. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.