Bausch + Lomb Makes Two Deals to Bolster Therapeutic Pipeline in GA and Glaucoma

Bausch + Lomb announced two separate deals to acquire early- and mid-stage therapeutic assets.

First, B+L, through an affiliate, acquired Whitecap Biosciences LLC, which is developing two therapies for potential use in glaucoma and geographic atrophy (GA). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Whitecap Biosciences was founded in 2015 to develop novel therapies for ophthalmic diseases in several eye diseases. The company completed phase 2 clinical trials for WB007, a highly potent alpha-2 adrenergic agonist, in glaucoma. Additional clinical trials are planned for both glaucoma and GA.

“We’re focused on finding treatments that address unmet needs or significantly improve upon the current standard of care,” Yehia Hashad, MD, chief medical officer and executive vice president, Research & Development, Bausch + Lomb, said in a company news release. “Glaucoma and geographic atrophy are two areas where we believe that dramatic improvement is possible. Whitecap Biosciences’ investigational medicines show real promise when it comes to slowing vision loss and perhaps even improving vision for patients with glaucoma, which would be a long-overdue breakthrough.”

In a separate deal, B+L entered into a strategic collaboration with City Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company making RNA interference (RNAi)-based medicine, to develop a novel therapy for the treatment of retinal diseases including GA.

Through the collaboration, which was announced by City Therapeutics, City will leverage its RNAi engineering technologies to develop a novel RNAi clinical candidate toward a specific disease target for intravitreal administration. If Bausch + Lomb elects to pursue the candidate for further development, it will be responsible for IND-enabling studies and clinical development, as well as regulatory submissions and commercialization activities. City Therapeutics retains all technology and product rights, except where Bausch + Lomb exercises its right to exclusively license a candidate for ocular indications.

Under terms of the collaboration, City Therapeutics has received an upfront cash payment and, if Bausch + Lomb elects to pursue a candidate for further development, City Therapeutics is also eligible to receive contingent payments tied to development, regulatory, commercial and sales milestones of up to $485 million, as well as tiered royalty payments on net product sales. In connection with the collaboration, City Therapeutics also issued a convertible note to Bausch + Lomb, representing a minority equity interest in the company if converted.

“We are excited to collaborate with Bausch + Lomb’s team of eye health experts, who share our vision to expand the reach of RNAi-based medicines for people living with serious unmet medical needs such as GA. We look forward to delivering a new treatment option for the more than one million people in the US living with GA,” Andy Orth, newly appointed CEO of City Therapeutics, said in a company news release. “For City Therapeutics, this marks our first major corporate collaboration, and it enables significant funding to advance our platform of innovative RNAi trigger molecules for broader applications in ophthalmologic diseases.”

“City Therapeutics’ leadership is behind some of the biggest innovations in RNAi medicines to date, and they have the right experience to help us successfully disrupt the GA treatment landscape,” said Brent Saunders, chairman and CEO of Bausch + Lomb. “Today’s approved treatments for GA leave enormous room for improvement. Our plan is to develop a novel RNAi-based medicine through this collaboration that will deliver new hope and better outcomes for this large patient population.”