Regulatory RNA startup CAMP4 Therapeutics has inked another collaboration deal as it prepares for an initial public offering.
The Cambridge, MA-based startup has lined up a pact with BioMarin to create RNA-targeting antisense oligonucleotides, or ASOs, the companies said Tuesday morning. The deal comes with just $1 million upfront, but as much as $370 million in potential future payments if BioMarin goes all the way through commercialization with two programs, according to an earlier SEC filing.
For BioMarin, it lets the company put a small bet on new technology after recently trimming its pipeline, cutting workers and changing leadership.
CAMP4 unveiled its IPO ambitions on Sept. 20, and it could price and start trading within the next few weeks. The startup, which emerged in 2018, had tie-ups with Alnylam and Biogen in its early days, but those agreements were scrapped as CAMP4 shifted from a focus on bioinformatics to restoring gene expression through regulatory RNAs.
It has since forged a license and discovery agreement with Fulcrum Therapeutics and an R&D pact for up to three ASOs with Eli Lilly.
The company is currently in Phase 1 with a CPS1-targeting experimental drug for urea cycle disorders. It expects initial data in the first quarter of next year. The experimental medicine, dubbed CMP-CPS-001, has orphan drug and rare pediatric disease tags from the FDA.
The 64-employee biotech is in the IPO queue alongside respiratory biotech Upstream Bio. If they follow through with their Nasdaq listings, they’d tack onto a relatively busy fall of debuts from Bicara, Zenas, MBX and BioAge.