Debiopharm


Debiopharm is a privately-held Swiss biopharmaceutical company mainly active in development and clinical testing of drug candidates. It was founded in 1979 by Rolland-Yves Mauvernay. The company now has 2 sites in Lausanne and in Martigny, Switzerland with new building expansion projects in both locations.

History

Rolland-Yves Mauvernay founded Debiopharm in 1979 in Martigny, Switzerland. In 1981, the Cytotech laboratory was created and after a few years it became Debio Recherche Pharmaceutique, then Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing. Initially, the company worked on interferon and, in 1982, it began to focus on triptorelin, after having acquired the rights for its development from Tulane University. Triptorelin is a Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist that has been approved for several indications, including advanced prostate cancer and endometriosis. The first marketing authorization for this medication was obtained in France in 1986.
In 1989, Debiopharm acquired the license for oxaliplatin, a diaminocyclohexane platin, from Nagoya City University. The drug was first approved in Europe in 1996 and became a standard treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer. Since launch, triptorelin and oxaliplatin have generated several billion dollars in revenue for the company.
Since 2004, after having occupied different premises in Lausanne, Debiopharm moved its headquarters to a new building: what became "Après-demain Forum" had been initially designed by architect Jean Tschumi as the headquarters commodity trading giant Andre and is a cultural property of national significance.
In 2005, Debiopharm acquired the Canadian company H3 Pharma, rebranded Debiovision, to support the development and worldwide registration of its medicines.
The company's business model relies on establishing partnerships and research agreements with other companies or universities to develop new molecules and run clinical trials before licensing them in case of success. It partnered for instance in 2009 with US-based MSM Protein Technologies to work on a new oncology treatment, in 2011 with Yale University as part of an agreement to develop and commercialise medicine for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, in 2014 with German company Evotec to identify and develop compounds to treat a variety of cancers, or with Canadian company Nobelex Biotech to develop antibiotics targeting Neisseria gonorrhoeae and enteric species.
In March 2021, Merck KGaA announced the acquisition of Debiopharm's xevinapant program in head and neck cancer for 900 million euros, then dropped the project in 2024.
In September 2024, ITM Isotope Technologies Munich announced the exclusive global license for the clinical and commercial development of Debioharm's radiopharmaceutical peptide-based, theranostic pair ITM-91/ITM-94D.

Structure and subsidiaries

Debiopharm is the Life Science division of the holding company Après-demain with three subsidiaries active in drug development, drug manufacturing and investment :
  • Debiopharm International in-licenses product candidates or technologies, develops them into medicines, and then licenses them to third parties for commercialization. This subsidiary is mainly focused on the development of medicines in the fields of oncology and infectious diseases, from preclinical development to full approval of new treatments.
  • Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing, based in Martigny, Switzerland, is a pharmaceutical research, development and production company. The Swissmedic-certified production site was renovated and expanded in 2015. Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing provides contract manufacturing and contract research services to Debiopharm.
  • Debiopharm Innovation Fund provides venture capital for Digital Health companies. The Fund notably invested in Carevive in 2020, VivoSense in 2022 and Iktos in 2023. It also successfully exited Finnish oncology startup Kaiku Health, which was bought in 2020 by Swedish giant Elekta.
Until 2020, the subsidiary Debiopharm Investment SA managed the group's asset management activities. This subsidiary was merged and its former activities are now directly taken over by the holding company Après-demain SA.

Products

Debiopharm is known for the development of triptorelin and oxaliplatin, two drugs that became standards of care for the treatment of various types of cancer and are listed on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Currently marketed

  • Triptorelin is a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist approved for several indications, including prostate cancer and endometriosis, under the names Decapeptyl, Neo Decapeptyl, Trelstar and Pamorelin. This molecule is also marketed in several European countries as Salvacyl and Moapar as a three-month treatment for sexual deviance.
  • Oxaliplatin is a diaminocyclohexane -platinum which has become a standard treatment for colorectal cancers, as well as gastric and liver cancers under the names Eloxatin, Elplat, Dacotin or Dacplat.

    Under development

Early-stage treatments being developed by Debiopharm are referred to by code names such as "Debio ". In 2020, Debiopharm signed a global license and research agreement with German biotech 3B Pharmaceuticals to work on "Debio 0228", a treatment targeting the CAIX enzyme to fight the progression of cancer. As part of their partnership-focused business model, in 2024, Debio 0228 was out-licensed to ITM Isotope Technologies Munich.
Other drug candidates under development include: