19 June 2013 - Pharmaceutical company DARA BioSciences Inc (NasdaqCM:DARA) revealed on Tuesday that it has licensed the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise its DB959 to T3D Therapeutics Inc.

According to DARA BioSciences Inc, DB959 is an oral, highly selective, dual nuclear receptor agonist whose primary target is PPARd (peroxisome proliferator activated receptor delta). It had developed DB959 through Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of diabetes and dyslipidemia.

Additionally, DARA stated it is out-licensing DB959 as part of its strategic plan to focus on the commercialisation of oncology supportive care products.

T3D Therapeutics' founder and CEO, John Didsbury, PhD, said: "With today's highly competitive diabetes and dyslipidemia market, we believe that DB959 will be better positioned to address unmet medical needs for new central nervous system (CNS) therapies. Given the neuroprotectant potential of DB959's mechanism of action and the growing evidence of metabolic disorders contributing to CNS diseases, we are excited to commence an aggressive development programme for DB959".