Finland’s Orion Strikes for Jemincare’s Non-Opioid Painkiller, Paying $15 Million Upfront

Finnish pharma Orion Corporation is laying hands on China-based Jemincare’s non-opioid drug candidate, a treatment for pain that blocks the NaV 1.8 pathway. 

Under the new agreement between the two pharmas, Orion will pay Jemincare EUR 15 million ($15.77 million) for the investigational drug, as well as milestone payments that could be “significant” in scale. Jemincare will also receive tiered royalties between 8% and 15% on future product sales.

Orion gets global development and marketing rights, excluding the Greater China area (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) for the NaV 1.8 blocker. The company will also be responsible for developing, producing and selling costs in its target markets. 

Additionally, the company will receive ownership to certain patent applications related to the compound within its territory. 

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A Potent and Selective NaV 1.8 Blocker

“Pain is one of the most frequently reported reasons for a patient to visit a health care provider and it generates a significant societal burden in terms of health care utilization and lost productivity,” said Outi Varaala, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Orion. 

Given the need for non-addictive treatment options that are both effective and safe, the NaV 1.8 channel may be a promising target for novel pain treatments, said Vaarala. 

NaV 1.8 is a subtype of sodium channel modulating the excitability of pain fibers. It has been shown to be a promising target in preclinical studies. However, no drugs selectively targeting NaV 1.8 have made it to the market.

That’s where Jemincare’s candidate, JMKX000623, comes in. A potent and selective blocker of the pain transmission pathway, the drug received IND approval in China this March. 

The success of the drug could be a turning point for Orion, after the pharma cut its staff and announced a change in their R&D strategy in March. Together with Jemincare, the companies aim to take the painkiller through clinical trials later this year.

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Joy Lin

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