Dimerix has bought an acute kidney injury (AKI) drug from Mission Therapeutics, paying (PDF) $5 million upfront and committing up to $287 million in milestones for the phase 2-ready asset.
Mission released phase 1 data on the molecule, MTX652, in healthy volunteers in 2023. MTX652 inhibits USP30, an enzyme that slows the removal of damaged mitochondria. Preclinical studies suggested that lifting the brake on mitochondria removal could protect against tubular atrophy and fibrosis, leading Mission to see applications for MTX652 in AKI. The biotech received approval to enter phase 2 in 2023.
Yet, with Mission shifting its focus to Parkinson’s disease program MTX325, the British biotech has let the asset go in a heavily backloaded deal. Australia’s Dimerix could pay Mission up to $47 million tied to clinical development milestones, $40 million upon marketing approval and $25 million if MTX652 is authorized in a second indication. The remaining $175 million is linked to sales milestones.
The deal positions Dimerix to pick up at the point MTX652 development stalled. Dimerix has secured the approval to run a phase 2 trial in the U.S., plus enough drug product for the study. Dimerix has sufficient money to start the mid-stage study, having landed (PDF) a loan on Friday and sold (PDF) regional rights to its lead program to Everest Medicines in June. The biotech is seeking cash to fully fund the phase 2 trial.
Dimerix sees the asset, which it renamed DMX-652, as a way to expand its leadership in kidney diseases. The biotech’s lead candidate is DMX-200, the CCR2 inhibitor that Amicus Therapeutics recently licensed in the U.S. Dimerix is running a fully funded phase 3 study of DMX-200 in the rare kidney disease focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
For Mission, the deal provides a small shot of non-dilutive funding for MTX325. Mission began a phase 1 trial of the molecule, another USP30 inhibitor, in healthy volunteers and people with Parkinson’s disease in 2023. After completing phase 1a tests and raising $13.3 million, Mission committed to taking MTX325 through a phase 1b proof-of-mechanism study in patients with Parkinson’s.