California VC firm Aditum Bio is at it again, this time partnering up with China-based Mabwell Bioscience to launch a new biotech focused on cardiovascular disease.
Aditum has paid Mabwell $12 million in upfront and near-term payments for exclusive global licensing rights to the latter’s dual-target siRNA candidate known as 2MW7141.
Aditum’s newly formed biotech, dubbed Kalexo Bio, will develop the asset for patients with elevated cholesterol, or dyslipidemia, and for the prevention of high-risk atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events.
In return for the licensing rights, Mabwell could receive a total of up to $1 billion in biobucks, plus royalties on global sales. The Shanghai biotech will also be given an equity stake in Kalexo, according to a Sept. 17 release.
Aditum will finance the new company, and the biotechs will work together to move 2MW7141 into clinical development.
In preclinical models, the siRNA asset demonstrated “potent and sustained suppression of target genes with low risk of off-target effects,” according to the companies, which believe the candidate has best-in-class potential.
Currently, Novartis touts Leqvio (inclisiran), a twice-yearly injection that lowers cholesterol. The medicine is a first-in-class siRNA therapy that secured approval as an adjunct to diet and statin therapy for ASCVD in late 2021.
A few months ago, Leqvio clinched another approval, this time allowing the therapy to be taken without statin therapy for patients with hypercholesterolemia.
Now, Aditum believes 2MW7141 has the potential to change the standard of care in lipid management, the VC’s co-founder and managing director, and former Novartis CEO, Joe Jimenez, said in the release.
Aditum Bio uses an incubator model to accelerate drug development through early clinical trials, touting a start-up platform and in-house team to aid the process.
Less than a year ago, the VC linked up with another Chinese-based company called Leads Biolabs. Together, the pair launched Oblenio Bio to develop Leads’ tri-specific T-cell engager antibody for autoimmune diseases.
In the same fashion as the most recent deal, Aditum is funding Oblenio, with Leads on the line for a potential $579 million in biobucks and an equity stake in the new company.