FBIO - 4D Molecular to acquire rights to Aevitas' drug asset for up to ~$140M

2023-04-24 09:30:45 ET

4D Molecular Therapeutics ( NASDAQ: FDMT ) is acquiring worldwide rights to Aevitas Therapeutics' short-form human complement factor H (sCFH) asset for treating complement-mediated diseases.

Under the agreement, 4D will pay Aevitas — a Fortress Biotech ( NASDAQ: FBIO ) unit —  totaling up to ~$140M in potential late-stage development, regulatory and sales milestones, plus royalties on sales.

The companies said the amount are payable solely to Aevitas, and 4D will be responsible for license payment obligations to University of Pennsylvania, where the sCFH technology was co-invented and co-developed by Wenchao Song, Professor of Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine.

The companies noted that sCFH is an engineered version of Complement Factor H (CFH) which can fit into AAV vectors with robust expression and functionality confirmed in cultured human cells in vitro, and in multiple preclinical animal models in vivo.

Restoring CFH function using the sCFH protein can potentially restore normal complement regulation and reduce retinal injury which manifests as progressive GA, according to the company.

"We are pleased to execute this asset purchase agreement with Aevitas to combine an innovative and differentiated preclinical GA product candidate into our large market ophthalmology portfolio which leverages our clinically validated R100 retinotropic vector," said 4D Co-founder and CEO David Kirn.

FBIO +9.99% to $0.78 premarket April 24

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