Sumitomo Dainippon, SanBio partner over SB623 cell therapy for chronic stroke

SB623 is an allogeneic cell product derived from bone marrow stromal cells isolated from healthy donors, and is currently being developed by SanBio.

Compared to autologous cell therapy, which needs individualized cell preparation for each patient, SB623 production can be scaled up from a single donor’s cells, allowing delivery of uniform quality products to a large number of stroke patients.

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma president and chief executive officer Masayo Tada said: "There are no drugs currently available to treat the frequently severe disability resulting from stroke; recovery from such disability represents a profound unmet medical need."

According to the company, SB623 has shown beneficial results on stroke disability with no serious adverse events in all preclinical and clinical trials carried out to date.

As part of the deal, the two firms will jointly develop SB623 in the US and Canada, while Sumitomo Dainippon will have the exclusive right to market SB623 in both countries.

The deal will see Sumitomo make an initial payment of $6m and milestone payments totaling an additional $74m during the clinical development of SB623.

Following market launch of SB623, SanBio will supply the finished product to Sumitomo and receive double-digit percentage royalties based on sales.

In addition, SanBio is expected to receive sales milestone payments contingent upon the achievement of annual sales goals, up to a total of $125m.