Novo Nordisk A/S to acquire ocedurenone for uncontrolled hypertension from KBP Biosciences (102.14)
- Co announced that Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire ocedurenone for uncontrolled hypertension with potential application in cardiovascular and kidney disease from KBP Biosciences for up to 1.3 billion US dollars.
- Ocedurenone is an orally administered, small molecule, non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (nsMRA) that is currently being examined in the phase 3 trial CLARION-CKD in patients with uncontrolled hypertension and advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). Uncontrolled hypertension is when a person's blood pressure remains high despite taking two or more blood pressure-lowering treatments.
- To date, ocedurenone has been investigated in nine clinical trials including the BLOCK-CKD Phase 2b trial. The BLOCK-CKD trial met its primary endpoint with ocedurenone demonstrating a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in systolic blood pressure (SBP) from baseline to day 84 in patients with stage 3b/4 CKD and uncontrolled hypertension. There were no reports of severe hyperkalemia or acute kidney injury with ocedurenone in the trial1.
- The CLARION-CKD phase 3 trial has been initiated in the US, Europe and Asia with the first patient dosed at the end of 2021 and will continue as planned with a total of more than 600 patients expected to be randomised by more than 150 sites. Novo Nordisk expects to initiate phase 3 trials in additional cardiovascular and kidney disease indications in the coming years, aiming to maximise the full potential of ocedurenone.