The Life Sciences team advised Q32 Bio Inc. ("Q32 Bio") on the sale of its Phase 2 complement inhibitor, ADX-097, to Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. ("Akebia"). Akebia will be responsible for future development and commercialization. Under the terms of the agreement, Q32 Bio will receive $12 million in upfront payments and a near-term milestone, which includes $7 million received at signing, $3 million at the 6-month anniversary of signing, and $2 million payable upon the earlier of the achievement of a milestone or the end of 2026. These payments as well as potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones total up to $592 million. Q32 Bio is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on potential future sales of ADX-097, ranging from low single-digit to mid-teen percentages.
Q32 Bio is a clinical stage biotechnology company whose science targets potent regulators of the adaptive immune system to re-balance immunity and is focused on developing innovative therapies for alopecia areata and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. About 700,000 people in the United States live with alopecia areata, a disease which has a life-altering impact on patients and limited current treatment options. Q32 Bio is advancing bempikibart (ADX-914), a fully human anti-IL-7Rα antibody that re-regulates adaptive immune function, for the treatment of alopecia areata in an ongoing Phase 2 program. The IL-7 and TSLP pathways have been genetically and biologically implicated in driving several T cell-mediated pathological processes in numerous autoimmune diseases.
The Goodwin deal team was led by Erini Svokos, Jacqueline Mercier, Mayan Katz, Ana Carolina Gentil Zattar, and Frank Qin, and included Kathleen Kean, Lily Johnson Cardona, Jordan Elizabeth Kijewski, Avi Strauss, Evan De Ycaza, Dan Karelitz, Shlomo Gottesman, Kris Ring, Maciej Zielnik and Tim Holahan.
For more information on the deal, please read the press release and coverage in Fierce Biotech.