December 16, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Tiny startup Arsia Therapeutics, Inc., which launched in 2013, struck a deal worth up to $100 million with pharmaceutical giant Biogen, Inc. to develop a better system for delivering drugs subcutaneously, or under the skin, for hemophilia patients.
The two companies are looking to develop a better delivery system than the current method of delivering the medication intravenously. One of the benefits of such a new delivery system would be hemophilia patients could administer the treatments at home, rather than having to go to a hospital or doctor’s office. Under terms of the deal, Biogen will use Arsia’s patented formulation technology, which has broad based utility for the production of high-concentration subcutaneous dose forms of protein and antibody drugs critical for next-generation biologics.
“Our collaboration with Biogen is notable due to our shared commitment to transforming the patient experience through improved drug delivery,” Amy Schulman, chief executive officer of Arsia, said in a statement. “As biologics increase in importance, formulating them so that they can be used easily and reliably is key. The administration of these compounds is critical to patients, to adherence of the treatment regimens, and to the accessibility of biologic medications. Arsia’s proprietary technology makes it possible for patients, caregivers, and physicians to administer treatment far more easily.”
Jorg Thommes, vice president of technical development at Biogen, said the collaboration with Arsia reflects Biogen’s “dedication to the hemophilia patient experience and our commitment to innovation in the formulation space.”
In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two Biogen hemophilia drugs, Eloctate, for hemophilia A, and Alprolix, for hemophilia B. Biogen did not disclose if Arsia will be looking to develop delivery methods for these drugs. In 2014, Biogen entered into a research deal with the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (TIGET) to develop a durable treatment for hemophilia. The gene therapy research could dramatically change the way the disease is currently treated.
Arsia co-founder Robert Langer, a professor at MIT who has helped launch 20 biotech start-ups in the fields of drug delivery, tissue engineering, and novel drug development, said “the foundational work Arsia technology allows will permit a wide range of effective treatments to reach patients that otherwise would not make it past development due to formulation limitations.”
On its website, Arsia said the challenge of delivering subcutaneous injections has been viscosity. The Arsia technology platform, which consists of a proprietary library of viscosity-reducing excipients, achieves significant viscosity reduction in highly concentrated solutions of biologics, the company said. Arsia’s library proprietary viscosity-reducing excipients consists of small-molecule compounds, some novel, and some with a history of FDA-approved parenteral use in humans, the company said.
Since its launch in 2013, Arsia has maintained a low media profile. The Biogen deal is their first press announcement. However, that doesn’t mean the company has not been idle. Schumer told Xconomy that Arsia has struck 12 deals with other companies, including the latest with Biogen. Schumer did not disclose the other deals, but said the collaborations have allowed the company to grow. She told Xconomy that the Biogen deal, because of the size and scope, is the first one the company chose to publicize. The deal is the largest announced to date leveraging Arsia’s pioneering work in the area of formulation development of protein pharmaceuticals and monoclonal antibodies, the company said.
