Deals highlight biotech momentum

Licensing, acquisition agreements show Connecticut firms in demand

STAMFORD — Biotech firms Cara Therapeutics and SpringWorks Therapeutics have announced in the past week licensing and acquisition deals for two of their under-development drugs that could be worth several hundred million dollars.

Cara signed a deal with Vifor Pharma for the commercialization across the entire U.S. dialysis market of its Korsuva injection, which treats the itch condition known as pruritus in chronic kidney disease patients.

Through the agreement, Cara will receive a 60 percent share of the medicine’s profits, an upfront payment of $100 million and an equity investment of $50 million.

“I think the agreement strategically makes a lot of sense for us,” Cara CEO and President Derek Chalmers said in an interview. “Vifor has a very successful nephrology-focused sales force already deployed in the U.S. They already have established relationships across all the major players in the dialysis market in the U.S. That’s going to maximize the potential commercial success of Korsuva injection.”

Through SpringWorks’ agreement with Jazz Pharmaceuticals, the latter has acquired the exclusive global rights to SpringWorks’ “fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor” program. Jazz plans to initially focus on developing those assets for the potential treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and related symptoms.

Jazz will make an upfront payment of $35 million to SpringWorks, and it has also agreed to make potential “milestone” payments of up to $375 million.

“We believe that Jazz’s track record of developing and commercializing neuropsychiatric medicines will help ensure that (the FAAH program) reaches its full therapeutic potential on behalf of patients suffering from PTSD,” SpringWorks CEO Saqib Islam said in a statement.

For Cara, the new agreement builds on a 2018 international licensing deal for the Korsuva injection that Cara signed with Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma Ltd., a joint company of Vifor and Fresenius Medical Care that specializes in treatments for chronic kidney disease.

At the same time, Cara is planning to submit before the end of the year a new drug application for the treatment to the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Assuming it gains FDA approval, Korsuva’s injectable form would be Cara’s first drug to go on the market. Cara officials are aiming for a 2021 commercial launch.

An oral form of Korsuva is also in the pipeline, with phase-three clinical trials scheduled for next year.

Between 23 million and 38 million Americans are estimated to suffer from chronic pruritus, according to a 2015 study.

“This (deal) will support our long-term strategy of developing the oral tablet form of Korsuva, which is designed to treat pruritus across a broad range of patients where chronic pruritus is still a significant unmet need,” Chalmers said. “That includes dermatological patient populations such as (those with) atopic dermatitis, as well as early-stage chronic kidney diseaseassociated pruritus. Those are all very large patient populations.”

SpringWorks is focusing on the development of treatments for severe rare diseases and cancer. Among those therapies, its Nirogacestat is an oral medicine for desmoid tumors, which are rare soft-tissue tumors that can cause pain, internal bleeding and disfigurement and limit physical motion.

Earlier this month, SpringWorks announced an initiative to study Nirogacestat with a Pfizer-produced treatment in patients with relapsed or refractory forms of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that develops in the bone marrow. SpringWorks was spun off from Pfizer in 2017.

In the past few years, Cara and SpringWorks have cumulatively raised several hundred million dollars to support their research and development.

Last week, SpringWorks closed on a $288 public offering. It followed a $186 million initial public offering last year and Series A and Series B fundraising rounds of $103 million and $125 million.

Last year, Cara issued about $146 million of stock, following offerings of $98 million in 2018 and $92 million in 2017. It went public in 2014.

“As a biotech company, we’re always looking for effective ways to build capital and bolster our balance sheets, so we can support all of our development programs,” Chalmers said. “This new license agreement does that… and extends our cash ‘runway’ all the way to 2023, which is well into when we expect profit-sharing revenue from this particular license agreement.”

Cara and SpringWorks each employ about 75. Cara’s main office is located at 107 Elm St. in downtown Stamford and SpringWorks is located at 100 Washington Blvd., in the city’s South End.