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Tokyo-based Kaken Pharmaceutical has committed $40 million in upfront and near-term co-development payments over this year and 2026.\n Kaken Pharmaceutical will hand Alumis $40 million in the near term for the rights to develop a late-stage tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor as a dermatology treatment in Japan.The drug in question, dubbed ESK-001, is Alumis’ lead candidate and is designed to correct immune dysregulation in diseases driven by proinflammatory mediators, including well-known targets like IL-23, IL-17, and type 1 interferon. Alumis has already been evaluating the twice-daily modified-release oral formulation in a pair of phase 3 trials in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.Alongside that late-stage program, Alumis is also running a phase 2b trial of ESK-001 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, which is expected to read out next year. The biotech said it “continues to leverage its precision data analytics platform to explore ESK-001’s potential application in other immune-mediated conditions” and is also working on a once-daily formulation.Tuesday morning\'s deal sees Tokyo-based Kaken commit $40 million in upfront and near-term codevelopment payments over this year and next, with the potential to pay up to $140 million in further milestone payments and field option payments as well as tiered royalties.In return, Kaken has the rights to ESK-001 as a dermatology drug in Japan and will be responsible for clinical and regulatory development along with commercialization in the country. There is also the option for Kaken to expand the licensing deal to cover rheumatological and gastrointestinal diseases. “We strongly believe in the potential of ESK-001 to address a range of medical needs in the dermatology space and potentially rheumatological and gastrointestinal diseases in the future,” Hiroyuki Horiuchi, president and representative director of Kaken, said in the March 25 release.Kaken markets a number of products in Japan, including hyaluronate sodium for osteoarthritis and Fiblast for skin ulcers. The company has also licensed a number of drugs from other companies, including seladelpar for primary biliary cholangitis from CymaBay Therapeutics and tildacerfont from Spruce Biosciences for congenital adrenal hyperplasia.“ESK-001 will be an important addition to the Kaken portfolio of novel therapeutics for dermatology conditions,” Horiuchi added in the release.Immune-mediated disease specialist Alumis is currently in the process of buying Acelyrin. Alumis’ pipeline is headed up by ESK-001, with the company sharing phase 2 data a year ago that showed the drug met its primary endpoint of the proportion of patients achieving a 75% improvement in the psoriasis area and severity score at Week 12 compared to placebo.“This partnership builds on the positive phase 2 clinical data of ESK-001, our next-generation oral TYK2 inhibitor, supporting our objectives to unlock its full therapeutic potential and ensure ESK-001 is widely accessible to people with immune-mediated disorders around the world,” Alumis CEO Martin Babler said in this morning’s release.

Plus, news about NewAmsterdam, Rocket, ImmunityBio, CG Oncology, Spruce Biosciences, Pharming, Veradermics, Noema Pharma, Ambrosia Biosciences, EsoBiotec, Cellectar Biosciences and Hepion: BenevolentAI’s overhaul: The struggling AI biotech said it plans to lay off staff, consider delisting from the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, partner its early-stage assets and undergo other additional organizational shifts as co-founder Ken Mulvany returns . Its Amsterdam-listed stock was down 10% on Wednesday. — Kyle LaHucik Cimeio Therapeutics, Kyowa Kirin make a deal: The Japanese drugmaker is paying up to $300 million as part of an agreement to develop new cell therapies. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. — Jaimy Lee At least three public offerings have been disclosed over the past day, including NewAmsterdam ’s bid to raise $300 million; Rocket ’s upsized $165 million offering ; ImmunityBio ’s $100 million financing ; and CG Oncology ’s offering , which has yet to be priced. — Jaimy Lee Spruce’s Phase 2b fail for endocrine disorder drug: The South San Francisco biotech said tildacerfont administered once daily did not meet the primary endpoint of glucocorticoid reduction in a mid-stage study of people with adult congenital adrenal hyperplasia. But the trial’s principal investigator said the data suggest twice daily dosing may be more effective. Its stock $SPRB was down about 25% on Wednesday morning. — Ayisha Sharma Pharming’s rare disease med passes Phase 3 test in kids: The Dutch drugmaker’s Joenja for activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta syndrome (APDS) met the primary endpoints in a late-stage trial of patients aged four to 11 years old. Joenja won FDA approval for APDS patients aged 12 and older in March 2023. Pharming plans to submit global regulatory filings in children starting in 2025. — Ayisha Sharma Veradermics’ $75M Series B: The Connecticut-based dermatology and aesthetics biotech raised the financing as it begins a Phase 2/3 study in hair loss. — Kyle LaHucik Noema adds $35M from EQT Life Sciences: A second close of a Series B first announced in March of last year brings the total for the round to CHF 130 million, which is about $147 million. The cash will fund Noema’s four ongoing Phase 2 trials: mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator basimglurant in trigeminal neuralgia and seizures in tuberous sclerosis complex; gemlapodect, a PDE10a inhibitor, in Tourette syndrome; and NOE-115, a monoamine modulator, in menopause symptoms. — Elizabeth Cairns Merck backs Ambrosia: The New Jersey pharma giant invested in the biotech’s Series A, which now totals $25 million. Ambrosia previously announced plans to take over a former Pfizer site in Boulder as it builds out an oral small-molecule pipeline for obesity and metabolic disorders. — Kyle LaHucik EsoBiotec scores €22M: The Belgian cell therapy specialist raised the equivalent of $23 million from backers that include Thuja Capital, UCB Ventures and Invivo Partners. The company’s immune-shielded lentiviral vector, which is called ESO-T01, is designed to reprogram T lymphocytes into BCMA CAR-T cells in vivo . It will enter an investigator-initiated trial in multiple myeloma in China, its first in humans, and data are expected in the second half of 2025, which could allow expansion to indications including autoimmune diseases. — Elizabeth Cairns Cellectar lays off 60% of its workers: The biotech is prioritizing its pipeline and letting go of staff. Cellectar had 20 employees at the end of 2023. Its stock price $CLRB sank 62% in pre-market trading on Wednesday. — Kyle LaHucik Hepion Pharmaceuticals ends merger plans with Pharma Two B. — Jaimy Lee