Basilea Pharmaceutica is hoping to have better luck in its second attempt to build out its anti-infective pipeline, handing over $2 million for Gravitas Therapeutics’ clinical-stage antifungal.
GR-2397 is being developed to treat invasive mold infections caused by the Aspergillus species. Invasive aspergillosis is most likely to affect immunocompromised patients, such as those being treated for blood cancer, and can be life-threatening.
Gravitas has previously branded the therapy as “conferring rapid fungicidal activity, low propensity for P450 drug-drug interactions, and activity against difficult-to-treat resistant fungal pathogens.”
The San Diego-based biotech has already put various intravenous doses of the therapy through a phase 1 trial to test its safety. Basilea said it will conduct its own preclinical profiling of GR-2397, which it will rename BAL2062, before launching a planned phase 2 study in the first half of 2025.
“Based on its novel mechanism of action, which results in rapid fungicidal activity in vitro, BAL2062 could become a valuable treatment option against difficult-to-treat invasive mold infections,” Basilea Chief Medical Officer Marc Engelhardt, M.D., said in the Oct. 19 release.
As well as the small $2 million upfront, the Swiss biotech will be eligible to pay Gravitas up to $1.75 million in pre-approval milestone payments and up to a further $67 million in biobucks, should the therapy be accepted by regulators and reach the market, on top of royalties.
Basilea CEO David Veitch described today’s licensing deal as “the first transaction in the implementation of our strategy to expand our clinical-stage anti-infectives pipeline and to complement our portfolio of marketed products, Cresemba and Zevtera.”
GR-2397 has already had its fair share of owners, having been acquired by Gravitas from Brickell Biotech in 2021, although its origins lie with Astellas.
Basilea’s pivot away from oncology to focus solely on anti-infectives got off to a bumpy start at the beginning of the year, after the biotech’s preclinical profiling of an antifungal program it bought from Fox Chase Chemical Diversity Center for an undisclosed fee led the company to hand the asset back.
The terminated agreement was part of an overall restructuring at Basilea that also included the decision not to expand studies for lisavanbulin, a tumor checkpoint controller. Instead, the restructured company pivoted from oncology to focus solely on anti-infectives, such as antibiotic Zevtera, which is already marketed in Europe and which is now awaiting an FDA decision.