Biotech firms developing ‘regenerative’ medicine to fight rare diseases merge in RTP
Two biotechnology companies specialized in developing treatments for rare diseases have merged into one that will be based in Research Triangle Park.
The merger of Massachusetts-based Enzyvant Inc. and Cary-based Altavant Sciences will create a “complete company” aiming to develop regenerative treatments for rare diseases, said Bill Symonds, the former CEO of both Altavant and Enzyvant and now the CEO of the merged company.
Regenerative medicine is the emerging field that attempts to nudge the replacement or repair of malfunctioning tissue with lab-engineered treatments.
Altavant is known for early-stage research and development of treatments for rare respiratory diseases. Enzyvant focuses on the manufacturing and commercialization of similar treatments. Both were subsidiaries of Sumitovant Biopharma, a New York-based company.
“I feel I can take any asset— any molecule, any protein tissue, etc.— and be able to develop it from beginning to end and also commercialize it with the team I have on hand,” Symonds said, predicting success for the new company.
Enzyvant will continue to focus on creating treatments for rare diseases that impact the immune system, heart and lungs.
Rethymic, Enzyvant’s flagship therapy, received FDA approval last year to treat children with congenital athymia, a rare disorder that leaves babies without a critical immune organ called the thymus. Doctors surgically implant Rethymic, yellow slices of processed donor thymus tissue, in the hopes that they will “train” immune cells to function properly.
Dr. Mary Louise Markert initially developed the technique at Duke and licensed the technology to Enzyvant in 2016.
As part of the merger agreement, Enzyvant will open a 25,000-square-foot facility in Morrisville that is tailored to manufacture regenerative therapies. Sumitomo Pharma, which owns Enzyvant’s immediate parent company, will help develop and operate the facility.
The manufacturing facility, slated to open in the second-half of 2024, is expected to create 40 “highly skilled laboratory medicine manufacturing jobs” manufacturing, according to the company’s press release. Those jobs will likely look to add manufacturing operators, quality control personnel, building managers and supply chain experts, Symonds said.
The company will gradually move the manufacturing of Rethymic, which is currently made at Duke University’s Marcus Center for Cellular Cures, to the new facility.
“This will free them up to do a lot of the other things that they haven’t been able to do because the facility is making Rethymic,” Symonds said.
Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and healthcare for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
