Dive Brief:

• Biogen is buying Alcyone Therapeutics after working with the company for more than two years on a better delivery system for neurological medicines built around antisense oligonucleotides.
• Under terms announced Thursday, Biogen will spend $85 million upfront to acquire the privately held company and promise additional payments to Alcyone investors if certain development and regulatory goals are reached. Biogen will gain all rights to ThecaFlex DRx, an implantable subcutaneous port and catheter device it’s been developing with Alcyone since 2023.
• The companies have two studies underway testing the system’s delivery of Biogen’s Spinraza drug for spinal muscular atrophy, Biogen said. Lowell, Massachusetts-based Alcyone has been developing ThecaFlex DRx since 2019 and manufactures the product locally.

Dive Insight:

Thanks to a partnership with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Biogen has a long history with antisense oligonucleotides, which can modify the production of proteins in the body. The two companies developed the blockbuster drug Spinraza, which works by steadily increasing the amount of a key motor neuron protein in the central nervous system.

Spinraza has found great success, bringing in almost $1.6 billion in revenue last year, but it must be administered directly into the central nervous system, requiring repeat lumbar punctures. The idea behind ThecaFlex DRx is to offer patients an easier experience, with an implanted device that enables routine administration of medicines like Spinraza.

Successful testing could open up many more possibilities for the administration of neurological medicines like Spinraza. The current tests will “inform pathways” for Biogen’s broader portfolio, the company said.

In addition to Spinraza, Biogen and Ionis have successfully brought Qalsody to market for ALS and are working on other treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy. They have also had some stumbles along the way, shelving development of an experimental ALS drug last year after disappointing study results.

A new method of administration could also help Biogen as it faces competition in the market for spinal muscular atrophy medicines from companies including Roche and Novartis. Roche’s Evrysdi is an oral drug that must be taken every day, while Novartis’s gene therapy Zolgensma is designed as a one-time treatment for children under two years old that costs around $2 million. Another medicine from Scholar Rock could be approved soon as well.