Switzerland's Obseva eyes China re-start for fertility drug that failed trial

Obseva SA

13/01/2020 06:54

ZURICH, Jan 13 (Reuters) - ObsEva  OBSN.S  struck a pact
with China's Yuyuan BioScience Technology to develop and
commercialize the fertility drug nolasiban, the Swiss drugmaker
said on Monday as it seeks to inject new life into a medicine
that had flopped a trial.
    In November, ObsEva said it was scrapping a development
program for nolasiban to help women undergoing in-vitro
fertilization after did not meet its primary endpoint of an
increase in ongoing pregnancy. The Nov. 7 announcement sent the
shares down more than 30%.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N27N2KJ  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N27N371
    Under the terms of this new agreement, Yuyuan gets the
rights to develop and sell nolasiban in China and will pay for
activities to get the medicine registered there, including a
Phase 1 study and a Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept study. 
    Financial terms are not being disclosed for the deal that
leaves ObsEva with rights outside China.
    ObsEva Chief Executive Ernest Loumaye said there had been a
bidding process for nolasiban in China, and that "Yuyuan in
particular impressed us with their extensive personal networks,
commitment, passion and deep insights in the IVF space".
    Despite nolasiban's earlier failure, Loumaye said "I remain
convinced that oxytocin antagonists have a role in improving
live birth rate following IVF, and we believe that Yuyuan is
well positioned to further investigate".

 (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Kim Coghill)
 ((J.Miller@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 7734; Reuters
Messaging: j.miller.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))