Bioverativ and Bicycle Therapeutics in $10m haemophilia deal
Biotechnology companies Bioverativ and Bicycle Therapeutics have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialise therapies for haemophilia and sickle cell disease.
The therapeutics will be based on Bicycle Therapeutics’ proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) product platform.
“Bicycles are a new therapeutic modality that combine attributes of antibodies, small molecules and peptides within one molecule, enabling high selectivity and affinity while simultaneously being able to penetrate and bind to the target(s) of interest within the body,” said the companies.
Announced yesterday, September 6, the deal will see Bicycle receive a $10 million upfront payment, and research and development funding of $4.2 million.
Bicycle is also eligible to receive up to $410 million related to development, regulatory and commercialisation milestones for products planned under the programmes.
Bioverativ will lead preclinical and clinical development, as well as subsequent marketing and commercialisation, while Bicycle Therapeutics will be responsible for leading initial discovery activities.
Tim Harris, executive vice president of research and development at Bioverativ, said: “We are constantly exploring new ways to do innovative science to find new molecules that can advance the care of people living with rare blood disorders.”
Kevin Lee, CEO of Bicycle Therapeutics, added: “Combining Bioverativ’s deep expertise in haematology with our powerful platform offers great promise for the development of novel, targeted therapies for patients.”
Bicycle’s platform is protected through patents and patent applications, assigned from the UK’s Medical Research Council.
In August, LSIPR reported that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) had instituted a probe into biopharmaceutical company CSL Behring to investigate certain recombinant factor IX products for the treatment of haemophilia B.
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