Therachon evolves to a multi-asset rare disease company

Under the agreement, Therachon has acquired the exclusive development and commercialization rights to apraglutide, originally discovered by Ferring Pharmaceuticals and exclusively licensed to GLyPharma in 2012. Apraglutide is a next-generation, synthetic GLP-2 analog that has undergone extensive preclinical characterization and optimization. It has successfully completed a Phase 1 single ascending dose/multiple ascending dose trials in healthy volunteers demonstrating a superior pharmacokinetic (PK) profile that affords an easy to use, once-weekly dosing regimen and is currently being investigated in two Phase 2 studies in short bowel syndrome.

An estimated 20,000-40,000 patients are thought to suffer from SBS in the US and Europe. Intestinal failure is a common and debilitating consequence of SBS. It is a life-threatening complication characterized by malabsorption and malnutrition, infections, blood clots and poor quality of life.

“Expanding our pipeline with this new asset supports our mission of harnessing internal and external scientific innovation to make a difference in the lives of people living with serious rare conditions,” said Luca Santarelli, M.D., chief executive officer at Therachon. “Like achondroplasia, our other area of focus, people living with SBS have significant unmet medical needs. We believe apraglutide offers a potential best-in-class profile for efficacy, as well as a favorable dosing regimen and improved tolerability compared with other GLP-2 analogs.”

“This is an exciting time for Therachon as we continue to identify and advance best-in-disease therapies for  rare conditions with significant unmet medical need through both internal R&D and selected acquisitions,” said Behrad Derakhshan, Ph.D., head of business development.

(Press release)

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