Anivive Licenses Novel Canine Cancer Therapeutic to Expand Sales and Accelerate Pipeline

LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Anivive Lifesciences, a pet health technology company dedicated to solving unmet needs in the veterinary community, announces that Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC (Dechra) has acquired the rights to Laverdia™-CA1 (verdinexor), a novel treatment for canine lymphoma.

Anivive developed Laverdia-CA1 to address the obstacles that commonly prevent dogs from receiving cancer treatment, including cost, convenience and concerns about side effects. Laverdia-CA1 tablets, available by prescription from veterinarians, can be administered at home and empower more pet owners to pursue treatment when they find out their dog has lymphoma.

"With extensive resources and global infrastructure, Dechra will further our mission to reach more patients by ensuring increased market availability of Laverdia-CA1," said Anivive CEO Dylan Balsz.

Dechra will begin selling and supporting Laverdia-CA1 in the first quarter of 2022.

Ian Page, Dechra's Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are delighted to acquire the worldwide rights to Laverdia. Its addition to our portfolio will expand Dechra into a new, niche therapy area, while also offering veterinarians and dog owners a simple to use, effective medication for lymphoma that extends the time a family has with their pet."

Laverdia-CA1 is pending regulatory approval in UK, EU, Brazil, Australia, Japan and Canada. With commercial sales and marketing teams in 25 countries and distributor relationships in an additional 68 countries, Dechra is poised to support immediate, post-approval distribution of Laverdia-CA1 (verdinexor) in all relevant markets.

This license of Laverdia-CA1 will allow Anivive to accelerate the discovery, development and marketing of additional novel therapies for the unmet need of pets. Anivive's pipeline currently includes more than eight first-in-class pharmaceuticals, biologics, and vaccines.

Anivive is developing the first-ever vaccine for a systemic fungal disease. Clinical studies demonstrate the vaccine offers effective protection against Valley Fever.

"Our team is excited to focus on the accelerated development of additional novel therapeutics that give veterinarians new treatment options for their most challenging cases," said Anivive's Chief Medical Officer, David Bruyette, DVM, DACVIM. "We remain committed, as well, to industry education and knowledge-sharing that increases awareness and use of new technology in the veterinary profession."

About Anivive Lifesciences, Inc
Anivive Lifesciences, Inc, a US-based company, is a next-generation pet health drug discovery and commercialization company that dramatically improves the speed and cost of addressing unmet medical needs in pets. Using a novel technology and analytics platform, Anivive discovers first-in-class therapeutics for unmet conditions in pets. For more information, please visit: www.anivive.com 

About Laverdia
LAVERDIA-CA1 is a new oral treatment option for canine lymphoma. It is the first small-molecule selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE) drug specifically designed for veterinarian use. It employs a novel targeted mechanism of action where it targets and binds to Exportin 1 (XPO1)—a "transport" protein that proliferates in certain types of cancer. Excessive amounts of XPO1 export important tumor suppressing proteins (TSPs)—necessary for fighting cancer—from the nuclei of cells, rendering them vulnerable to uncontrolled growth. With its targeted blocking of XPO1, LAVERDIA-CA1 allows for TSPs to be trapped inside the cell nucleus, triggering programmed cell death of lymphoma cells while sparing healthy cells.

About Dechra
Dechra is global specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals and related products business. Our expertise is in the development, manufacture and sales and marketing of high quality products exclusively for veterinarians worldwide. Dechra's business is unique as the majority of its products are used to treat medical conditions for which there is no other effective solution or have a clinical or dosing advantage over competitor products. For more information, please visit: www.dechra.com.

SOURCE Anivive Lifesciences Inc.