Pfizer has paid around €45m ($51m) to purchase a 15% equity interest in Vivet Therapeutics, and will pay up to €560m that includes option exercise payment and certain clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments.
Vivet Therapeutics is engaged in the development of advanced gene therapy treatments for inherited liver disorders.
Vivet Therapeutics co-founder and CEO Jean-Phillippe Combal said: “We welcome Pfizer as a shareholder and partner that can help us advance our efforts to develop therapies for patients burdened with inherited liver disorders. This investment demonstrates the clear value of Vivet’s innovative approaches to gene therapy.”
Pfizer and Vivet will work on the development of VTX-801, which is Vivet’s novel investigational gene therapy for Wilson disease.
VTX-801 has secured orphan drug designation (ODD) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Commission (EC).
Wilson disease is rare, chronic, and potentially life-threatening liver disorder of impaired copper transport, which causes serious copper poisoning.
Pfizer has an option to acquire 100% interest in Vivet, following its delivery of certain data from the Phase I/II clinical trial for VTX-801.
As per terms of the deal, Pfizer worldwide business development vice president Dr Monika Vnuk will be included in Vivet’s board of directors.
Vivet is also accelerating liver-directed gene therapy programs for progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) for bile excretion defects and citrullinemia for defects in the urea cycle, in addition to the Wilson disease program.
Vivet is focused on the building of diversified gene therapy pipeline based on novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) technologies developed via it partnerships and licenses from the Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada (FIMA).
Pfizer chief scientific officer and worldwide research, development, and medical president Mikael Dolsten said: “Our partnership with Vivet offers an important expansion of Pfizer’s commitment to collaborate with the scientific community and to accelerate our leading AAV-directed gene therapy portfolio.”