Pierre Fabre Laboratories acquires Vertical Bio

The acquisition of Vertical Bio AG for an undisclosed amount of money allows Pierre Fabre Laboratories to add VERT-002 to its growing oncology discovery pipeline. VERT-002 is a monoclonal antibody with a novel and differentiated mechanism of action, acting as a degrader of c-MET, a disease driver in patients suffering from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with mutations or amplification of MET.

Vertical Bio was founded by Versant Ventures and was launched out of the firm’s Ridgeline Discovery Engine based in Basel, Switzerland. Leveraging Ridgeline’s biology capabilities, Vertical Bio advanced VERT-002 through preclinical studies and towards an IND submission. The first-in-human studies are expected to begin in 2024.

In line with its innovation strategy, the Pierre Fabre Group has made oncology its top priority in medical care and dedicates every year circa 80% of its R&D spendings to this therapeutic area. In 2022, the Oncology Franchise achieved revenues of 467 M€, a sharp 221% increase vs 2019 revenues.