Intarcia & Calibr Announce Collaboration on Next-Gen Diabetes-Obesity Combo Treatment

Intarcia Therapeutics and the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr) today announced a strategic research collaboration focused on the development of a novel peptide therapeutic leveraging Calibr’s Stapled-Peptide Platform Technology. Intarcia plans to develop and administer this novel therapy in combination with Exenatide (a GLP-1 receptor agonist and active agent in Intarcia’s ITCA 650 product), by leveraging its proprietary Medici Drug Delivery System.

Under the terms of the agreement, Calibr will receive an upfront grant of Intarcia equity, with additional shares vesting over key development milestones, as well as undisclosed cash payments on achievement of predetermined regulatory and sales milestones. In addition to the milestone payments, Calibr will be eligible to receive tiered royalties on product sales.

Kurt Graves, Chairman, President and CEO of Intarcia Therapeutics, commented: “We are committed to disruptive innovation leveraging our proprietary Medici Drug Delivery System and we now have several combination products in our pipeline that we believe we can uniquely optimize and deliver in a once- or twice-yearly mini-pump. We’re excited to advance a combination program with Calibr that is targeting significant advances for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes and obesity.”

“This collaboration is another example of Calibr’s drive to work with innovative partners who are committed to making a difference in human health,” said Matt Tremblay, Ph.D., Calibr’s Chief Operating Officer. “We look forward to working with Intarcia to leverage our peptide technology platform to create transformative new medicines.”