Bioverativ, Bicycle Therapeutics to Jointly Develop New Therapies for Rare Blood Disorders
Bioverativ and Bicycle Therapeutics will jointly discover, develop and market new therapies to treat hemophilia and sickle cell disease, the two companies announced. These future therapies will be based on Bicycle’s proprietary peptide development platform.
“We believe our Bicycle platform has extremely broad therapeutic potential and we are excited to work with Bioverativ, a standout leader in the hematology field,” Kevin Lee, CEO of Bicycle Therapeutics, said in a press release. “Combining Bioverativ’s deep expertise in hematology with our powerful platform offers great promise for the development of novel, targeted therapies for patients. This alliance provides the latest validation of our Bicycle platform and furthers our strategy to evaluate its potential in a wide range of new disease areas.”
Bicycles are a new class of therapeutic small compounds that have antibody-like proprieties, combined with the high specificity and affinity of small peptides. Unlike antibodies, these bicycles can be used in different species without losing their therapeutic potential and effectiveness. These new compounds can penetrate more rapidly and easily into different tissues, with fewer effects on the immune system.
“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,” Tim Harris, executive vice-president of research and development at Bioverativ, based in Waltham, Massachusetts. “This collaboration offers a unique opportunity to identify an entirely new therapeutic modality that may lead to meaningful new treatments and outcomes for people living with hemophilia and sickle cell disease.”
Under the agreement, U.K.-based Bicycle will be responsible for all initial discovery and drug candidate selection activities for hemophilia and sickle cell disease programs. Bioverativ will conduct preclinical and clinical development of selected candidates, and will supervise all subsequent marketing and commercialization requirements.
The deal calls for Bicycle to receive an initial payment of $10 million, and $4.2 million for research and development funding. It’ll also get royalties from sales, and up to $410 million related to development, regulatory and sales milestones of products developed under the accord. Additional terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
