Three of Vivek Ramaswamy’s companies reported activity today including corporate changes, a licensed therapy and investment of $100 million.
Three of Vivek Ramaswamy’s companies reported activity today. The entrepreneur’s umbrella company, Roivant Sciences, announced that Frank Torti was joining the company as Vant Investment Chair. As such, he will oversee the biopharma companies in the Roivant family and act as one of two Roivant-appointed board representatives. Torti joins Myrtle Potter, who was recently appointed Vant Operating Chair for Roivant Pharma.
Torti comes from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a venture capital firm. Before joining NEA in 2007, Torti was a researcher at the Duke University Center for Clinical & Genetic Economics.
Roivant also announced that Rakhi Kumar was promoted to Chief Accounting Officer. Kumar joined Roivant in September 2015. Before the promotion she was Vice President for External Reporting and Finance. Prior to joining Roivant, she was with The Medicines Company.
One of the Roivant companies, Dermavant, which focuses on dermatological diseases, announced that NovaQuest Capital Management had invested $100 million in the company in exchange for conditional milestone payments for tapinarof, a Phase III-ready investigational drug to treat psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Tapinarof is a therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating agent (TAMA).
“For two decades, NovaQuest has been providing novel solutions to the biopharmaceutical industry to fund the development and commercialization of truly innovative and potentially groundbreaking therapies for patients,” said NovaQuest partner Matthew Bullard, in a statement. “We believe that tapinarof has the potential to address significant medical needs in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis and we are excited to participate in this exciting program.”
Another Roivant company, Urovant Sciences, which focuses on developing drugs for urologic conditions, announced it had licensed an investigational gene therapy for patients with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms who have failed with other oral drug therapies. The drug was licensed from Ion Channel Innovations. The therapy is called hMaxi-K.
hMaxi-K has been studied in two Phase I clinical trials in OAB patients. One was a small, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase Ib clinical trial as an intravesical injection in women with overactive bladder symptoms. Ion Channel Innovations wrapped the trial in 2017, finding the drug to be well tolerated. It also showed dose-dependent improvements in urinary urgency and frequencing.
“We are pleased to add the gene therapy hMaxi-K to our clinical development portfolio,” said Keith Katkin, president and chief executive officer of Urovant, in a statement. “We are eager to study the potential of hMaxi-K as an alternative therapy for OAB patients who are not getting adequate relief from other therapies. Urovant also has access to gene therapy expertise through the Roivant family of companies.”
Urovant expects to meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to launch a Phase II trial of the drug in 2019.
Urovant launched a Phase III clinical trial earlier this year for fibegron, an investigational oral ß3-adrenergic agonist as second-line treatment in adults with symptoms of OAB. Top-line data is expected in 2019.
Overactive bladder is a clinical disorder marked by the sudden urge to urinate, with or without accidental urinary leakage. It typically also includes increased frequency of urination. In the U.S., more than 30 million people over the age of 40 have symptoms of OAB.
