Secura acquires Copiktra from Verastem
Secura Bio signs agreement to acquire global rights to oncology drug Copiktra
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LAS VEGAS—Secura Bio, Inc. (SBI) announced that it has agreed to purchase the global rights to Copiktra (duvelisib) from Verastem, Inc. for oncology indications. Copiktra is an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and the first approved dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and gamma involved in the signaling that leads to malignant B-cells proliferation and cancer.
The transaction will be partially financed with a $70 million debt financing led by Athyrium Capital Management and the Secura Bio executive team.
Copiktra is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) after at least two prior therapies, and relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) after at least two prior systemic therapies. Copiktra is also being developed for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), for which it has received Fast Track status and Orphan Drug designation, and it is being investigated in combination with other agents through investigator-sponsored studies.
“We are excited to acquire the worldwide rights to Copiktra as the next step in our strategy to aggressively build a meaningful, worldwide oncology portfolio,” said Joseph M. Limber, president and CEO of Secura Bio. “Copiktra is complimentary to SBI’s current therapeutics and provides a high value, high growth oncology opportunity for our company which was initiated with the acquisition of Farydak (panobinostat), a first-in class HDAC inhibitor. SBI now has two impactful oncology drugs with novel modes of action that provide the potential to build a very broad portfolio of indications in B-Cell and T-Cell lymphomas.”
A European Marketing Authorization application for Copiktra was submitted in November 2019 to the European Medicines Agency (EMA); it seeks approval for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory CLL/SLL and relapsed or refractory FL.
“SBI management continues to execute on key strategic initiatives including portfolio development. We look forward to the next stages of building on our strong partnership with SBI as they expand their oncology franchise,” stated Jeffrey Ferrell, managing partner at Athyrium.
Secura Bio plans to support the development of Copiktra in the treatment of T-cell lymphomas for which the PI3K inhibition-based mode of action is relevant, and to explore new therapeutic opportunities for the combination of PI3K and HDAC inhibitors.
