Blackstone’s next major bet is on a former Merck monoclonal antibody for atopic dermatitis that a new biotech will test for asthma and COPD.
The alternative asset manager’s life sciences division, which recently inked a large financing deal with Moderna, will commit up to $300 million to support the new portfolio company Uniquity Bio, according to a Wednesday morning release.
Brian LortieThe FDA has accepted the small biotech’s Phase 2 plans for a TSLP-targeted antibody known as solrikitug, which it licensed from Merck for undisclosed terms. In the “next month,” Uniquity will start testing its experimental medicine for COPD and asthma in two global Phase 2a trials, Uniquity CEO Brian Lortie told Endpoints News.
With Blackstone’s support, Uniquity could have data on those trials at the end of this year or in early 2025, Lortie said.
“We’re looking at opportunities to move very rapidly into registrational trials because of the way that the world is moving here in this area. We’d like to get this program to patients as soon as we could,” Lortie said.
The TSLP space includes a group of pharma giants.
Amgen and AstraZeneca market the monthly TSLP biologic Tezspire. Meanwhile, GSK paid $1 billion upfront to buy a clinical-stage biotech in the space, Aiolos Bio, during this year’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. Upstream Bio has also reeled in hefty financing, including a $200 million round last June, to take forward a former Astellas TSLP-targeted monoclonal antibody.
Also, Sanofi is in the clinic with an anti-IL-13/TSLP antibody known as lunsekimig. Flagship’s AI biotech Generate:Biomedicines also looks to test an anti-TSLP candidate in asthma, the company has previously said.
“Our approach to development pairs the scientific rigor and quality standards of a global pharma company with the operational agility of a biotech startup, which allows us to move quickly without cutting corners,” Lortie said in a statement.
Beyond respiratory indications, Lortie said the biotech will also explore solrikitug for gastrointestinal conditions. That work is set to “be in the clinic very, very soon,” the CEO said.
Uniquity expects to continue building out its pipeline with the help of Blackstone.
“We would like to add several more programs under the I&I umbrella that would be separately funded, also by Blackstone, and managed by our team,” Lortie said. “We created this team to somewhat be evergreen so we can develop programs and move them on to other partners.”
The Malvern, PA-headquartered biotech previously went by the name Nexstone Immunology. It has about 30 employees, Lortie said.
Blackstone’s work in drug development includes blood thinner biotech Anthos, expanding Sanofi’s Sarclisa, boosting the cardiomyopathy and hypertension pipeline at Alnylam and, among others, a foray into gene therapy that didn’t come to fruition.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include an interview with Uniquity Bio CEO Brian Lortie.