Dermatology-focused pharmaceutical firm Leo Pharma provided $70m of equity funding and research and development support for US-based skin disease treatment developer PellePharm yesterday through a strategic development and commercialisation agreement.
The partnership could be worth up to $760m in total, with the remaining $690m to be potentially supplied in the form of regulatory and commercial milestone payments, with an undisclosed amount allocated to a potential acquisition of PellePharm.
Founded in 2012, PellePharm is working on treatments for rare, genetic dermatological diseases such as Gorlin syndrome, which increases the risk of developing tumours, and high-frequency basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.
Leo’s initial payment will be used to support a global phase 3 trial for patidegib topical gel, which aims to prevent and treat Gorlin syndrome and reduce the need for invasive surgeries which are currently necessary up to 30 times per year in teenage sufferers.
PellePharm and Leo will form a joint development committee, with PellePharm remaining in charge of global development and Leo acting in an advisory capacity while both will drive the commercialisation of patidegib. Anders Kronborg, Leo’s chief financial officer, will join PellePharm’s board of directors.
PellePharm had previously completed a $20m series B round led by genetic disease treatment producer BridgeBio Pharma in August 2017, and added $7.5m from undisclosed investors in July this year.
The company said at the time of the series B round that it had already secured a total of $3.5m in equity funding, but did not disclose any additional information concerning its early backers.
PellePharm was co-founded by Ervin Epstein, senior scientist at Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute, with Philip Beachy, professor of biochemistry and developmental biology, and Jean Tang, associate professor of dermatology at Stanford University.
