MedinCell partners with Cornerstone Animal Health to develop a range of best-in-class long-acting injectable veterinary products using MedinCell’s BEPO® proprietary technology.
Cornerstone Animal Health is a US-based Animal Health commercialization group formed by seasoned industry veterans, most of them former executives of iconic companies such as Pfizer Animal Health (Zoetis), Merck Animal Health or Merial. The Cornerstone team has an extensive network, deep experience from regulatory development to successful commercialization of innovative products in Animal Health as well as channel management to get products launched. As independent entrepreneurs, they have also successfully commercialized many products in both the pet market and the food animal market.
Cornerstone will be in charge of funding regulatory development and either license or commercialize the products. The deal is intended to support the financial potential of the BEPO® technology in Animal Health to both accelerate MedinCell’s time to profitability and create sustainable long-term profits. The intended joint-venture deal is structured to limit the impact on MedinCell’s cash and resources.
The first long-acting injectable aims to be a 5-7 days product targeting acute pain for pets and is based on a widely used active ingredient. It is already in lead formulation research and could enter regulatory development in 2020. Additional products should enter lead formulation research in 2020.
Animal Health offers an attractive risk profile as the products can be tested in the target species during the lead formulation selection. There are no human clinical trials, development times are significantly shorter and funding requirements may be one order of magnitude lower compared to human health products.
“Animal Health is another tangible opportunity that we can materialize thanks to the veterans of Cornerstone, stated Christophe Douat, CEO of MedinCell. “We have collaborated with the team in the past and trust them to work with us to develop long-acting products specifically design for animals.”
“Thanks to their convenience, long-acting injectable products should be quickly adopted by veterinaries and pet owners for whom compliance and ease of adoption are challenges”, stated Vince Palasota, CEO of Cornerstone Animal Health. “As an example, our first product in development aims to offer till 7 days of postsurgical or non-surgical pain relief after a single subcutaneous injection made by the veterinarian. No more action is required by the animal owner who has the assurance that his companion receives the proper dosing to ensure adequate pain management.”