Vertex to acquire US biotech firm Semma Therapeutics for £785m

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire US-based biotech company Semma Therapeutics for $950m (£784.66m) in an all-cash deal with an aim to develop curative cell-based treatments for type 1 diabetes.

Semma Therapeutics is focused on using stem cell-derived human islets (SC-islets) as a potentially curative treatment for the chronic, life-threatening disease.

The company is said to have made two major scientific advances, of which one of them is generating huge quantities of functional human pancreatic beta cells that restore insulin secretion and ameliorate hypoglycemia in animal models.

The other scientific advance made by the company is in the form of a device that encapsulates and protects the functional human pancreatic beta cells from the immune system. This will enable durable implantation without the necessity of an immunosuppressive therapy, said Vertex.

In July 2019, Semma Therapeutics said that, based on data, it achieved pre-clinical proof-of-concept from its two lead programs for type 1 diabetes testing stem cell-derived islets in both non-human primates and pigs.

Based upon the pre-clinical data, the company intends to carry out a two-part clinical strategy starting from the first half of next year with a clinical trial in patients with difficult to treat diabetes and hypoglycemia unawareness.

In the second half of 2020, the company will look to initiate a second clinical trial for the larger adult type 1 diabetes population using SC-islets encapsulated in its immunoprotective device without immunosuppression.

Vertex global research executive vice president and chief scientific officer David Altshuler said: “The therapeutic approach pioneered by Semma has the potential to address the causal human biology of type 1 diabetes, a serious disease inadequately controlled by existing therapies.

“Unlike insulin injections and insulin pumps, islet cell transplantation can provide physiologic regulation of blood glucose thereby potentially ameliorating or preventing both the hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic episodes associated with the current standards of care.”

Post-acquisition, Semma Therapeutics will become a separate operating subsidiary of Vertex. Subject to certain conditions like the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary conditions, the deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

Semma Therapeutics president and CEO Bastiano Sanna said: “Vertex has a proven track record of serial innovation and a deep commitment to developing transformative therapies for patients in need. Being a part of Vertex will allow the Semma team to rapidly and effectively advance our cell therapy and delivery approaches to patients who need them.”