RARE Daily

Aristea Decides to Dissolve Company

February 10, 2023

Rare Daily Staff    

Aristea Therapeutics, a company focused on developing novel therapies to treat serious inflammatory orphan diseases, said that due to safety findings in the ongoing phase 2 clinical trials, it has discontinued the RIST4721 development program in order to protect patient safety.

The company was testing the CXCR2 antagonist for dermatological and rheumatic conditions, the most advancing being as a treatment for palmoplantar pustulosis, a rare, chronic, recurrent inflammatory disease that affects the palms and/or the soles with sterile, erupting pustules, which are debilitating and usually resistant to treatment.

As a result of this decision, and after considering a range of strategic alternatives, the Aristea Board of Directors determined conclude the company’s business operations and dissolve the company.

“Although the decision to discontinue the RIST4721 development program is disappointing for the Aristea Therapeutics team and patients in need of new treatment options, we believe it is absolutely the right decision to protect patient safety which must always be paramount in drug development,” said James Mackay, president and CEO of Aristea. “The board’s decision to dissolve Aristea Therapeutics was reached after exploring a range of strategic alternatives and is a sound business decision.”

Aristea was a spin-out from AstraZeneca in 2018 with Novo Holdings as the founding investor with a commitment to addressing significant unmet medical needs in orphan diseases for which there are currently no approved therapies. Lead candidate RIST4721 is an oral CXCR2 antagonist being developed for the treatment of palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) with results reported from its phase 2a clinical trial in 2020.

In July 2021, Aristea entered into a strategic collaboration with Arena Pharmaceuticals to advance the clinical development of RIST4721, which provided Aristea with a $60 million upfront payment and a $10 million equity investment in Aristea’s series B financing. In return, Aristea granted Arena an exclusive option to acquire Aristea, including rights to all CXCR2 programs, upon completion of the phase 2b study of RIST4721 in PPP.

Photo: James Mackay, president and CEO of Aristea

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