CBio Secures Clinical Trial Milestone

Australian drug development company CBio has announced the achievement of a clinical trial milestone under its option agreement with global pharmaceutical leader Novo Nordisk. The agreement relates to the development of XToll, a potential drug therapy which could provide safer and more effective treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

The clinical trial milestone was triggered by the recruitment of the 75th patient into the current 150 patient phase II clinical trial.

Under the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk will make a milestone payment to CBio of US$1 million.

The agreement was signed in May 2008 and grants the former an exclusive option to negotiate an exclusive licence to the latter’s intellectual property surrounding Xtoll, which is currently in phase II clinical trials at sites across Australia and New Zealand.