Summary
- Pfizer takes 15% stake in privately held french gene therapy biotech Vivet Therapeutics, with the exclusive option to eventually acquire it.
- The first gene therapy product VTX-801 will be used to treat patients with Wilson's disease.
- Vivet Therapeutics has a large pipeline full of preclinical gene therapy candidates being developed to treat multiple types of rare liver diseases.
- Pfizer established a prior deal for a Hemophilia B gene therapy product candidate from Spark Therapeutics, which it has advanced in a phase 3 study.
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Pfizer (PFE) announced that it had taken a 15% stake for a privately held gene therapy biotech in France, by the name of Vivet Therapeutics. This move is an effort to move Pfizer into this space, where a lot of these biotechs are being sought out after. That's because they offer massive opportunity to be a one and done type of a treatment. That potential has become very appealing to many big pharmaceutical companies the past few months. The focus for Vivet will deal with developing gene therapies to treat rare liver diseases.
Pfizer's Gene Therapy Push
Pfizer has taken a 15% stake in a privately held biotech by the name of Vivet Therapeutics. The reason why I think Pfizer has chosen to garner such a deal is because it has a pipeline that is targeting rare diseases. Like many other big pharmaceutical companies, it wants to shift some focus into the gene therapy field. Even though a 15% stake into Vivet is not much, Pfizer left itself an exclusive option to acquire the entire gene therapy biotech if it chooses to do so. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer paid an upfront payment of $51 million to Vivet. Vivet is due a potential of up to $635.8 million in terms of clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones being met. Pfizer will obtain the option to purchase the entire company upon completion of a phase 1/2 study using VTX-801. VTX-801 is a gene therapy developed by Vivet to treat patients with Wilson's disease.
