Viatris inks deal with Lexicon for sotagliflozin outside of U.S., Europe

Viatris has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals for sotagliflozin in all markets outside of the United States and Europe.

Sotagliflozin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May 2023 to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, hospitalization for heart failure and urgent heart failure visit in adults with heart failure or Type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease and other cardiovascular risk factors.

This licensing agreement leverages Viatris' expertise in cardiovascular diseases and its Global Healthcare Gateway, which offers partners ready access to more markets and patients worldwide through the company's unique global infrastructure and expertise. This transaction is another example of how the company is continuing to expand its innovative portfolio by identifying, vetting and securing highly innovative, patent-protected assets that address significant unmet medical needs, Viatris said.

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Viatris Chief Commercial Officer Corinne Le Goff said, "This licensing agreement with Lexicon adds another asset to our expanding innovative portfolio in cardiovascular diseases which gives us the opportunity to further drive accelerated and durable revenue growth in the future. We believe we will be able to leverage our strong foundation in cardiovascular diseases and our unique infrastructure to execute on the potential of sotagliflozin. We look forward to working with Lexicon to make a real difference and expand access for patients."

Lexicon CEO and director Mike Eaton, said, "We are pleased to be working with Viatris, a company with strong cardiometabolic expertise, global commercial capabilities and a successful track record of launching medicines in new territories. We are confident that this agreement will expand the reach of sotagliflozin to more patients in need. Partnering with high quality companies to support commercialization of our medicines globally is a critical pillar of our Lead to Succeed strategy at Lexicon. We plan to continue to evaluate strategic partnerships for additional assets, territories and indications to augment Lexicon's development and commercial capabilities, advance our pipeline and expand access of our medicines to more patients around the world." 

Under the terms of the agreement, Viatris will acquire rights to sotagliflozin in all global markets outside of the United States and Europe in exchange for an upfront payment to Lexicon of $25 million, and additional potential contingent payments, including regulatory milestones, sales milestones and tiered royalties ranging from low-double-digit to upper-teens on annual net sales. 

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Viatris will be responsible for all regulatory and commercialization activities for sotagliflozin in the licensed territories. Lexicon will be responsible for providing clinical and commercial supply of sotagliflozin to Viatris. Viatris currently expects to account for the transaction as an asset acquisition, with the upfront payment being expensed as in-process research and development.