City Therapeutics has inked a new deal with Bausch + Lomb for a gene silencing approach to the eye disorder geographic atrophy (GA).
The early-stage deal breaks down like this: City gets an upfront payment (though neither party are saying what that figure is) alongside biobucks and sales milestones worth $485 million-plus.
For its part, City will tap what it calls its “next generation” RNAi engineering tech to create a new RNAi med for intravitreal administration in GA.
Should B + L then decide to take up the drug for further development, it will be responsible for IND-enabling studies and clinical development, as well as commercial work.
The disorder can occur in the late stages of dry aged-related macular degeneration (AMD), causing cell death (atrophy) in areas of the retina and potentially vision loss. It affects around 1 million people in the U.S.
Brent Saunders, chairman and CEO of Bausch + Lomb, is hoping that this long-term bet can help shake up the GA market.
“City Therapeutics’ leadership is behind some of the biggest innovations in RNAi medicines to date, and they have the right experience to help us successfully disrupt the GA treatment landscape,” Saunders said in a Jan. 10 release.
“Today’s approved treatments for GA leave enormous room for improvement. Our plan is to develop a novel RNAi-based medicine through this collaboration that will deliver new hope and better outcomes for this large patient population.”
Should the pact come to fruition and see approvals in the future it would compete with Apellis Pharmaceuticals' Syfovre, the first FDA-approved drug for GA, as well as Astellas’ Izervay.
Both drugs have endured bumpy regulatory and safety paths. Back in 2023, Syfovre was associated with rare but severe side effects, sending its stock down more than 30% on the day. The drug was also turned down for approval by European regulators late last year.
Astellas’ Izervay, meanwhile, was rejected by the FDA for a supplemental license in treating GA secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The Japanese pharma said the rejection was due to “a statistical matter related to labeling language proposed by Astellas.”