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Today, a brief rundown of news involving City Therapeutics and Grin Therapeutics, as well as updates from Savara Pharma, Aurion Biotech and Prothena that you may have missed.
Biogen is partnering with RNA drug developer City Therapeutics to develop a better way of reaching a unspecified target that “mediates key central nervous system diseases.” Biogen will pay City, a startup that launched publicly late last year, $16 million in upfront fees and invest another $30 million in convertible notes that could later become a minority stake. “With this effort, we are further expanding the modalities in our R&D toolbox to potentially reach our targets of interest more precisely by adding an RNAi-based approach," Biogen research head Jane Grogan said in a statement. — Ned Pagliarulo
Biotechnology startup Grin Therapeutics will get $50 million in a deal that hands Angelini Pharma rights outside of North America to an experimental drug Grin has developed for genetic epilepsies and other neurological conditions. On Tuesday, Grin also announced the closing of a $140 million Series D round that involved Angelini and Blackstone Life Sciences. Grin’s drug, radiprodil, targets a receptor that is thought to contribute to epilepsy when overactivated. The company plans to start a Phase 3 trial in the third quarter that will test radiprodil in a neurodevelopmental condition that causes seizures. — Gwendolyn Wu
The Food and Drug Administration declined to review a drug Savara is developing for a rare lung condition called pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. According to Savara, the agency deemed the company's application incomplete and asked for more information about how the treatment, Molbreevi, is made. The FDA didn't identify any safety issues or request more efficacy data, Savara said. The company will request a meeting with the FDA within the next month. Its share price fell by more than 20% Tuesday.— Ben Fidler
Aurion Biotech has withdrawn plans to go public, according to a regulatory filing. The cell therapy developer filed for an initial public offering in January, but did so despite opposition from shareholder Alcon, leading to a legal spat between the firm and another equity holder, Deerfield Management, over Aurion's future. Alcon bought a majority stake in Aurion in late March, however, and replaced the biotech's CEO. Aurion said in a Friday filing that an IPO is no longer "in the best interests of the company." — Ben Fidler