RDR: Cydan Announces Acquisition of Its Rare Disease Spin-out Vtesse

The orphan drug accelerator company, Cydan Development announces that Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. has acquired Vtesse Inc.

Cydan Development works within the rare disease community as an agent for progress in the development of therapies that will help patients living with rare genetic diseases. They do so by paying close attention to promising drug candidates in academia and advancing research and development to get the product into clinical development stages.

Vtesse Inc. was previously a spin out company of Cydan Development, relying on the resources and equipment of its parent company to advance the orphan drug candidate, VTS-270, for the treatment of Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC). Preclinical and early clinical studies suggest that the administration of VTS-270 may slow or stop certain indicators of NPC disease. In addition to VTS-270, Vtesse is developing earlier stage programs for lysosomal storage diseases.

Chris Adams, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO at Cydan says, “We are pleased to see the tremendous progress in NPC that Vtesse has made with advancing VTS-270 into a fully enrolled, pivotal Phase2/3 trial. With the addition of Sucampo’s commercial expertise, once approved, NPC patients in the U.S. and around the globe will benefit.”

Cydan’s mission is to develop as many meaningful therapy treatments for rare genetic diseases. With over 7000 rare diseases, Cydan wants to work with patients, researchers, universities, and clinicians to build upon the 400 treatments currently available. Cydan does this by creating spin out companies, like Vtesse Inc. and Imara which is currently working with IMR-687, a highly selective, potent small molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase-9 (PDE9i), to treat patients with sickle cell disease.

About Niemann-Pick Disease Type C
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) patients are not able to metabolize cholesterol. The cholesterol builds in the liver, spleen, and brain. Symptoms include the inability of a child to move their eyes up and down, jaundice, and an enlarging of the liver and spleen. Neurological symptoms present later, typically around ages 3-10. NPC is a fatal disease with no cure.

Thanks to Rare Disease Report for this piece.