VectivBio Grabs Tail Of Comet Therapeutics In New Rare Disease Play
Executive Summary
Deal Snapshot: VectivBio is expanding its existing focus on rare diseases into inherited metabolic disorders, which affect about one in 800 live births and cause significant mortality in infants and young people.
Who: VectivBio Holding AG and Comet Therapeutics Inc.
What: On 31 August, Basel, Switzerland-based VectivBio said it would acquire Cambridge, MA-based Comet, a company focused on developing small molecule drugs for inherited metabolic diseases. The deal is expected to close by the end of September.
Why: VectivBio is already focused on developing drugs for severe rare conditions, and by acquiring Comet, the company will gain a new drug-development platform.
Financials: Not disclosed, though the deal includes a combination of equity and cash, including an upfront payment and future development milestones
Analysis: VectivBio’s acquisition of Comet is the latest step in the company's growth strategy after being established in May 2019 as a spin-off from Therachon following that company’s $810m acquisition by Pfizer Inc. (Also see "Pfizer Grows In Rare Disease With $810m Dwarfism Company Buy" - Scrip, 9 May, 2019.) The company moved out of stealth mode in January 2020 with a $35m financing round. (Also see "Finance Watch: Billions Flow Into Biopharma Via Three New Investment Funds" - Scrip, 10 Jan, 2020.) In April, the company went public through an initial public offering. (Also see "Finance Watch: Will Biotech Stock Rebound Keep IPOs Coming?" - Scrip, 23 Apr, 2021.)
The company’s focus has been on apraglutide, a GLP-2 analog, which moved into Phase III in February in short bowel syndrome with chronic intestinal failure (SBS-IF) in adults. Apraglutide is also being tested in Phase II development for SBS-IF in pediatric patients. Additionally, it is in Phase I development for acute graft-versus-host disease, with plans to start Phase II development in the first quarter of 2022.
The Comet acquisition represents a significant expansion. The Swiss biotech highlighted that Comet has four distinct programs in inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs) currently in research, with plans to enter the first program into the clinic in the next 18 months. IMDs are estimated to affect more than 75,000 people in the US and Europe, or around one-in-800 live births, and are a significant cause of death in infants and young people.
VectivBio will initially target organic acidemias, a cluster of IMDs that includes methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) and propionic acidemia (PA), with the drug VB-1197. Other drugs in the Comet pipeline include VB-1200, for urea cycle disorders, VB-1300, for fatty acid oxidation disorders, and VB-1400, for amino acidopathies.
Other companies developing drugs for organic acidemias include Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which has a preclinical program targeting BCAT-II for MMA, PA and others. (Also see "Agios Sells Cancer Portfolio To Servier To Focus On Genetic Diseases" - Scrip, 21 Dec, 2020.) China-focused CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. also has a license for LogicBio Therapeutics, Inc.’s LB-001, for MMA. (Also see "Asia Deal Watch: CANbridge Licenses Orphan Disease Candidates From Mirum, LogicBio" - Scrip, 6 May, 2021.)
Another major player in the space is Moderna, Inc. While the messenger RNA-focused biotech has found a huge cash cow in the form of its COVID-19 vaccine, in March 2020 it had to suspend its Phase I/II trials of mRNA-3704 for MMA and mRNA-3927 for PA due to the pandemic, before it had the chance to begin dosing patients. (Also see "Moderna Not Immune To COVID-19 Effects On Trials" - Scrip, 30 Mar, 2020.) However, while the PA study reopened earlier this year, the company ended up withdrawing the MMA study in November 2020 for what the ClinicalTrials.gov page describes as a business decision – as opposed to safety or efficacy concerns – before the start of dosing.
In a same-day note, SVB Leerink analyst Thomas J. Smith took a positive view of the deal, saying that it represented VectivBio delivering on business development while bolstering its rare disease pipeline.
“Comet’s platform leverages innovative chemistry with the goal of providing a stabilized Coenzyme A (‘CoA’) precursor and key metabolic intermediates to restore fundamental cellular metabolism,” Smith said. “This modular technology has the potential to address multiple previously untreatable IMDs by targeting the key cellular dysfunctions that underlie these conditions and VECT management believes this approach could overcome important limitations of standard care and has the potential to prevent the clinical progression of IMDs.”
The deal, Smith said, strengthens VectivBio’s focus on rare diseases while also expanding its reach into hereditary metabolic diseases.
“With the acquisition of Comet Therapeutics, VECT is gaining early discovery stage assets that enable the company to expand their rare disease focus,” he said.