Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) has entered into an agreement with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB) to exclusively license SCD-153 including all patents and patent applications owned or controlled by licensors IOCB.

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SCD-153 is a first-in-class topical drug for the treatment of alopecia areata (involving hair loss), developed jointly by SPARC, JHU and IOCB, SPARC told the stock exchanges.

It’s stock price on the BSE rose over 5 per cent (at 13:08 pm Thursday), to ₹241.50, following the development.

SPARC had evaluated SCD-153 under a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) after which it had entered into an Option to License Agreement with the licensors, it said. Further, it added, that its Investigational New Drug (IND) was approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). In fact, Sun Pharma already has a product in this therapeutic segment – deuruxolitinib.

The licensors are eligible for an upfront payment and milestone payments depending on the achievement of regulatory and sales milestones, as well as tiered royalties on sales, the note said.

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“The licensing of SCD-153 marks another successful collaboration between SPARC and an academic institute under our outreach program with academia. Topical SCD-153, upon successful development, can provide an important option to clinicians and patients for the treatment of Alopecia Areata,“ said Anil Raghavan, SPARC Chief Executive.