Фармкомпания Processa Pharmaceuticals приобрела стартап Vidya Therapeutics за акции и обеспечила финансирование в размере 200 млн долларов

SAN DIEGO – Vidya Therapeutics was snatched up just as quickly as it emerged from stealth. The clinical-stage drug developer was founded in 2024 but only unveiled its pipeline and its goals in late July, when it was acquired in a stock-for-stock transaction by Florida-based Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCSA). Concurrent with the acquisition, Processa secured a private placement financing vehicle expected to result in gross proceeds of roughly $200 million. The funding will support the continued clinical study of Vidya’s lead drug candidate, VT-7208, in three separate indications. “The path to go and pursue what we did with Processa Pharmaceuticals really had a high degree of deal certainty, and it was the fastest path to raising capital,” Vidya founder and Executive Chair Dr. Sheila Gujrathi said. “And by entering the public markets, it really enables us to raise enough capital to really achieve our development objectives to pursue multiple indications in parallel, rather than sequentially.” Gujrathi is a biopharmaceutical industry veteran of more than two decades, previously serving as Bristol-Myers Squibb’s vice president of global clinical development, chief medical officer of Receptos prior to its $7.2 billion acquisition by Celgene and the CEO of Gossamer Bio. She has also served as the board chair for multiple biotechnology companies in San Diego County, including Janux Therapeutics, ADARx Pharmaceuticals and Turning Point Therapeutics. As a result of the acquisition, Gujrathi joined Processa’s board as well. Reviving a Suspended Drug Program VT-7208 is an inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), an enzyme that aids in the growth of white blood cells but can contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases and some forms of cancer when BTK becomes overactive. The drug was originally developed by Gossamer Bio when Gujrathi, one of the company’s co-founders, led the company from 2018 to 2020. Gossamer was still conducting pre-clinical discovery research on what was then known as GB7208 in 2023 when the company suspended its research and development of potential treatments for primary central nervous system lymphoma, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease in a strategic shift of focus toward seralutinib, its drug candidate for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. “Gossamer scientists worked on the program for years,” Gujrathi said. “We had an opportunity to go and acquire the library of BTK compounds when Gossamer was stopping their research work. So it was an opportunity for myself, working with a number of the former Gossamer scientists, to go in and obtain this program.” Gujrathi would subsequently form Vidya Therapeutics around VT-7208 and advanced the drug through a Phase 1 trial where it showed differentiated potential as a BTK inhibitor. The company received concrete Phase 1 data earlier this year. “We were exploring a number of options, including doing another private round, a more standard private round,” Gujrathi said. “And in that setting, we actually had a number of term sheets, and it was very exciting because I think the investors really saw the promise of the program.” Operating under Processa, Vidya Therapeutics aims to investigate VT-7208’s potential as a treatment for food allergies, chronic spontaneous urticaria and relapsing multiple sclerosis. Substantial Market Opportunity Most approved BTK-inhibitor drugs both in the U.S. and globally are treatments for different forms of lymphoma, but the class of drug has shown clinical potential in autoimmune, allergic and neuroinflammatory diseases because of their ability to block the overproduction of antibodies and mediate the effects of those antibodies on the inate immune system. VT-7208’s closest analog that has been cleared by regulators is Novartis’ remibrutinib, which is sold via the brand name Rhapsido for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria, a condition characterized by chronic hives and swelling. Gujrathi said the company opted to examine VT-7208’s treatment of all three diseases because of its potential to prevent the exacerbation of allergic disorders rather than reacting to them with a drug like epinephrine and its effective penetration of the central nervous system. “While on the surface they do look like pretty different indications, the underlying biology is very pertinent for all these indications,” she said. “So it affords us the potential to really more the program forward and really address this whole pipeline-in-a-program opportunity.” The market for an effective BTK inhibitor in VT-7208’s indications would be substantial, Gujrathi argued, as millions of both adults and children struggle with allergic disorders and more serious immune system conditions. Patients with food allergies, in particular, could benefit from the drug if it’s proven effective, as restaurants and other food service providers may be unable to ensure that food items haven’t come into contact with allergens. “It’s basically all at your (own) risk, and I think that puts a burden onto patients and their families,” Gujrathi said. “So I think the opportunity to have these types of treatments like VT-7208 and other preventative therapies will be very critical for patients to be able to navigate in their external environments.” Vidya Therapeutics, Inc. FOUNDED: 2024 CEO: Sheila Gujrathi HEADQUARTERS: San Diego BUSINESS: Clinical-stage drug developer WEBSITE: vidyatx.com(opens in new tab) CONTACT: [email protected] NOTABLE: Gujrathi is the co-founder of Biotech CEO Sisterhood, an organization seeking to uplift women leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry. Eli is an award-winning reporter primarily covering the tech and life sciences industries. He previously worked as the San Diego City Hall reporter for the regional wire City News Service. He has also covered public health, transportation and state and local politics in the San Francisco Bay Area for Local News Matters, the nonprofit arm of the regional wire Bay City News Service, where he also oversaw the development and daily content management of the outlet’s public health and COVID-19 news and resource webpage. He is also a contributing writer covering Minor League Baseball for the analysis and commentary website Baseball Prospectus. Eli is a graduate of San Francisco State University and a native of Northern California.