Boehringer Ingelheim buys Pharmaxis NASH candidate

Boehringer Ingelheim is to pay €27.5m up front plus upwards of €500m in milestones to acquire a Phase I candidate that has shown preclinical promise in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) from Pharmaxis. The German company is exercising an option that it already held to acquire the investigational drug PXS4728A, a semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase/vascular adhesion protein-1 (SSAO/VAP-1) inhibitor that is designed to block leucocyte adhesion and tissue infiltration in inflammatory processes.

The product has been developed to Phase I clinical studies to demonstrate oral bioavailability, long-lasting target inhibition and good tolerability...