AstronauTx exercises option from Saniona to acquire worldwide rights to neurological disease program under research collaboration
AstronauTx exercises option from Saniona to acquire worldwide rights to neurological disease program under research collaboration
- Development candidate ATX0926 enters IND-enabling stage of development expanding AstronauTx's pipeline of therapies targeting sleep biology
- Represents the successful outcome of a multi-year scientific collaboration between AstronauTx and Saniona
- Saniona receives shares in AstronauTx with a value of US$5 million
Saniona (OMX: SANION), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological and psychiatric disorders, and AstronauTx Ltd ("AstronauTx"), a biotechnology company developing therapeutics to treat neurological disorders by improving sleep architecture, today announce that AstronauTx has exercised its option under the companies' 2023 Research Collaboration and Option Agreement to secure exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize therapeutic candidates arising from the collaboration.
Saniona and AstronauTx entered into a research collaboration and option agreement in 2023 to discover new treatments for neurological conditions by modulating a novel, undisclosed ion channel target. The collaboration combined Saniona's proprietary IonBase™ ion channel discovery platform with AstronauTx's expertise in sleep biology and neuroscience to identify novel small-molecule modulators of the target.
The collaboration has successfully delivered the development candidate ATX0926, which is expected to enter IND-enabling studies shortly. Exercising the option gives AstronauTx exclusive worldwide rights to advance the program through preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing, regulatory approval and commercialization. In consideration for exercising the option, AstronauTx will issue Series A shares to Saniona with a total value of US$5 million, priced on the same terms as AstronauTx's Series A financing completed in October 2023. Saniona will recognize income of US$5 million and record a corresponding investment in AstronauTx of the same amount on its balance sheet.
"AstronauTx's decision to exercise its option is a strong endorsement of both the scientific progress achieved through our collaboration and Saniona's ion channel discovery platform. It demonstrates our ability to generate and advance high-quality development candidates together with world-class partners while enabling us to retain meaningful long-term value through equity ownership, milestones and royalties. We are excited to see ATX0926 advance toward clinical development," said Thomas Feldthus, Chief Executive Officer of Saniona.
"Exercising this option reflects the strength of the science that has come out of our collaboration with Saniona and our conviction in this target and its mechanism of promoting glymphatic flow as a potential new approach to treating neurological disease. " said Jane Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer of AstronauTx. "As we prepare to enter clinical development with our lead program, ATX0926 further strengthens our pipeline and supports our strategy of targeting sleep architecture to influence causal biological processes that drive neurological disease."