Windtree Therapeutics announces license agreement with Lee’s Pharmaceuticals

Windtree Therapeutics announced it has entered into a license agreement with Lee’s Pharmaceutical Limited for the development and commercialization of Windtree’s product candidate istaroxime in Greater China, including for acute heart failure and cardiogenic shock. In addition to istaroxime, the agreement also licenses Windtree’s preclinical next-generation SERCA2a activators, known as dual mechanism SERCA2a activators, and rostafuroxin, a Phase 2 product candidate for hypertension associated with specific genotypes. “We believe Windtree’s pipeline has great potential and we expect this license agreement will progress development in the treatment of heart failure. We see the agreement as validation of the significant heart failure market opportunity for istaroxime and, when coupled with the unique profile and our positive clinical results to date, demonstrates the potential for istaroxime to provide meaningful benefit in heart failure and cardiogenic shock patients. Greater China holds a significant, if not the largest, heart failure patient population. Windtree already studied istaroxime in heart failure patients in China and the results of the Company’s positive Phase 2b study have been presented and published. Lee’s intends to start Phase 3 for istaroxime in acute heart failure while Windtree continues to advance its global cardiogenic shock program,” said Craig Fraser, Windtree’s Chief Executive Officer. “Importantly, the agreement also provides support for development of one or more fast follow-on products from our next generation dual mechanism SERCA2a activators that have potential for oral formulation for treatment of chronic heart failure.”