Novartis will pay $125 million up front for rights to a delivery platform designed to get drugs into the brain.
Sironax, a Boston-area biotechnology company, said Tuesday that Novartis has exercised an option to acquire full ownership of that startup's brain delivery platform. Sironax's technology is meant to overcome a major challenge in neurological drug development: delivering therapeutics across the "blood-brain barrier."
Sironax will receive the nine-figure payout following the close of the transaction and will continue to retain rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize certain assets with the platform. The company currently has three programs in early-stage trials that it plans to move forward using the purchase proceeds.
“This achievement comes at a pivotal time as we advance our clinical-stage pipeline and accelerate the development of promising new therapies,” said Shefali Agarwal, President and CEO of Sironax, in a statement.
Developing medications that can cross the blood-brain barrier has been a critical challenge for both small startups and large pharmaceutical companies. This obstacle acts like a protective filter, shielding the organ from toxic substances as well as beneficial medicines. Several companies have emerged with new technologies to get around this challenge, such as Aerska, Manifold Bio and Korsana Biosciences.
Sironax is among them, too, and gained the attention of Novartis. Through an agreement inked last year, the Swiss pharma secured an “option period” to evaluate Sironax’s platform as well as an exclusive chance to later acquire it. Under that deal, Sironax would be eligible for up to $175 million in upfront and milestone payments.
Sironax did not share full details of its potential candidates, but said they are “first or potentially best-in-class molecules.”
Its primary asset, dubbed SIR2501, is being tested to prevent damage to nerve cells in diseases such as ALS and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. That medicine has gained a “fast track designation” from the Food and Drug Administration.
Another asset, SIR4156, is being developed for “metabolic dysfunction,” while SIR9900 is being tested as a potential therapy for inflammatory and immunological diseases.
