The Life Sciences team advised Apnimed on the acquisition of the intellectual property and exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize sulthiame, a differentiated carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, in the broad field of sleep apnea and sleep-related breathing diseases, from Desitin Arzneimittel GmbH. Apnimed will develop sulthiame with Shionogi & Co. Ltd. through their joint venture, Shionogi-Apnimed Sleep Science (SASS). Sulthiame is currently approved for non-sleep-related diseases in several regions outside the US and has completed successful Phase 2 trials for OSA in Europe. As part of the transaction, SASS will also explore the use of sulthiame in additional sleep and breathing diseases including Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome (OHS).
Apnimed is a privately held clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming the treatment landscape for sleep-related breathing diseases. The company believes the introduction of simple, once-nightly oral drugs has the potential to dramatically expand diagnosis and the reach of treatment for people with OSA. OSA, like other common chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension, would benefit from having multiple drugs with differing mechanisms to more fully address the heterogeneity of disease pathophysiology. Apnimed envisions a new era where novel oral therapies simplify intervention, expand the reach of diagnosis and treatment, and help more people get the oxygen and restorative sleep needed to thrive.
The Goodwin team was led by Tim Atkins and included assistance from Adam Bellack, Dan Karelitz, Felix Krüger, Philipp Lauer, Ce Li, Paul Jin, Alison Liou, Katerina Stavrianidis, Justin Pierce, and Gozde Guckaya.
For more information on the deal, please read the press release.