Aristea shutters, ending hopes of a Pfizer buyout
10 Feb 2023
Phase 2AcquisitionClinical Trial FailureImmunotherapy
AstraZeneca spinout Aristea Therapeutics is
shutting down
after terminating multiple Phase II studies of its inflammatory drug, citing undisclosed safety issues.
With the culling of multiple mid-stage tests of the investigational drug RIST4721, “to protect patient safety,” Aristea said Friday its board considered “a range of strategic alternatives” and decided to turn off the lights on the 12-employee San Diego biotech.
The company declined to comment on the safety findings or make an executive available for an interview.
Aristea joins a
cohort
of
folded biotechs
, like
Arch Oncology
and
Goldfinch Bio
, which have
ended operations
for a
variety of reasons
.
President and CEO James Mackay had taken a neglected AstraZeneca CXCR2 antagonist and revived it as the central focus of a new biotech that raised
$138 million
from the likes of Novo Holdings, Fidelity, Tekla Capital and others.
Also at play was a potential exit to Pfizer via the Big Pharma’s Arena unit, which had the exclusive option to buy the biotech once wrapping up a Phase IIb study of the drug in palmoplantar pustulosis, a rare chronic inflammatory skin disease.
But
that study
and others — including in
hidradenitis suppurativa
, Behçet’s disease and
familial Mediterranean fever
— are ending. In the Friday morning press release, Mackay called the move a “sound business decision.”
At the time of leadership hires last fall,
Mackay said
Aristea would expand the pipeline with more “immunology/inflammation assets.”
The company also had two other CXCR2 antagonists in preclinical stages for undisclosed indications. The goal was to inhibit the activity of CXCR2, a cytokine receptor that helps attract neutrophils to inflammation sites. The white blood cell plays a role in tissue damage in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
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