KdT Ventures has signed off on a $608 million biobucks deal for NGM Biopharmaceuticals’ phase 2-ready metabolic-dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH) drug, with the VC firm setting up a new company to house the therapy.
NGM Bio has already evaluated the FGFR1c/β-Klotho receptor complex agonistic antibody, dubbed NGM313, in 300 patients, including those with MASH. But KdT’s plans for the candidate aren’t focused on the liver disease. Instead, the VC firm has set up a new company to develop the asset in an undisclosed “rare disease.”
A phase 2 study, which will “represent the first non-metabolic indication for which NGM313 will be evaluated,” is set to begin next year, KdT said in the Dec. 19 release.
In return for the exclusive worldwide license for NGM313, NGM will receive an undisclosed amount of equity in the newly formed company—as well as upfront and milestone payments that could potentially top out at $608 million—alongside tiered royalties on net sales should the drug make it to market.
In a statement, KdT’s founder and managing partner Cain McClary, M.D., didn’t disclose the indication NGM313 would be targeting, only saying that it covers “an important and chronically underserved patient population.”
“In addition to our conviction in this drug candidate’s strong scientific foundation and established safety and efficacy profile, we are privileged to partner with a team as accomplished as NGM,” McClary added. “We look forward to sharing more details in the coming months on the new company we have formed to progress this promising program.”
It’s not the first time one of NGM’s MASH candidates has been redirected toward another disease. The biotech had been evaluating its engineered FGF19 analog aldafermin in MASH, but, in the wake of some failed trials, the company moved to focus the drug in another liver condition called primary sclerosing cholangitis.
NGM was publicly listed until February, when it was acquired by VC firm The Column Group and taken private. NGM subsequently raised a $122 million series A, with the proceeds earmarked for both aldafermin and NGM120, a GDF15/GFRAL antagonist that is being evaluated for the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum.
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