SitalaBio pays US$670m for Fosun inflammation blocker

Sitala Bio Ltd, which focuses on suppressing the chronic inflammation underlying neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, has licensed the global rights to the oral anti-inflammatory drug FXS6837 from Shanghai Fosun Pharma. However, this does not include marketing in China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Sitala Bio will pay US$25 million upfront and staggered milestone payments of US$165 million, as well as a share of sales of up to US$480 million annually if FXS6837 is approved. Fosun Pharmaceuticals International will also acquire a 10% stake in Sitala Bio.

According to Fosun Pharma, the patent rights underlying the development of FXS6837 are independent, i.e., they were filed without the involvement of the Chinese company. A Phase I study conducted in Australia is not listed under the specified code name in the Australian study registry. Fosun has also not published any information on the target of the low-molecular-weight inflammation blocker.

Serial entrepreneur Matthew Cooper founded Sitala Bio in 2021 with the support of Forbion and OrbiMed. In September 2020, he sold Inflazome, a company he founded in 2016 with Luke O’Neill that focused on the development of low-molecular NLRP3 blockers, to Roche AG for €380m upfront. He holds more than 200 patents. His latest company, Sitala Bio, focus on  medicines that target the removal of toxins from the brain by immune cells, thus slowing down the progression of conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s