Secura Bio Secures Global Rights to Farydak (Panobinostat) from Novartis for Multiple Myeloma Treatment

Farydak (panobinostat) is an oral prescription drug developed by Novartis for the treatment of various cancers. The drug received accelerated approval from the FDA on February 23, 2015, for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and was approved by the European Medicines Agency for the same indication on August 28, 2015.

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on March 12, U.S. local time, biopharmaceutical company Secura Bio announced it had obtained the global licensing rights for the prescription drug Farydak from Novartis.

Secura Bio is a newly established biopharmaceutical company founded in 2019. Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, the company operates through offices in the United States and San Diego. Focusing primarily on oncology patients, Secura Bio is dedicated to developing innovative therapies aimed at curing cancer. Currently, the core team of Secura Bio consists of only five members: Joseph M. Limber (CEO), Mark E. Spring (CFO), Brett Ke Lund (CLO), William J. Davis (Vice President of Operations), and Juan Estruch (Head of R&D), each bringing many years of professional experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.

On March 5, 2019, Secura Bio announced the completion of a $145 million Series A financing round led by Athyrium Capital Management, stating that the proceeds would be used to research and develop novel oncology therapeutics. However, as of now, Secura Bio has not conducted any core R&D trials; its sole product is Farydak, acquired from Novartis.

Panobinostat is a hydroxamic acid that acts as a non-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, capable of inhibiting HDAC enzymatic activity at nanomolar concentrations. Inhibition of HDAC activity leads to increased histone acetylation, epigenetic modifications that result in chromatin relaxation and transcriptional activation. Due to its unique mechanism of action, panobinostat can slow the growth of multiple myeloma cells.

Multiple myeloma is a common blood cancer in which normal epigenetic processes are disrupted (also known as epigenetic dysregulation), leading to the formation of malignant plasma cells in the patient’s bone marrow. Globally, there are over 160,000 new cases of multiple myeloma each year, including 30,000 in the United States. Although many therapies have been developed for the treatment of multiple myeloma, its high rate of relapse means that many patients cannot be cured with a single course of treatment. Worldwide, approximately 106,000 people die from multiple myeloma annually, with more than 12,000 of these deaths occurring in the United States.

Secura Bio collaborates with healthcare professionals to provide panobinostat to oncology care teams who require this medication, thereby generating revenue. Joseph M. Limber stated, “We are pleased to have secured the global rights to Farydak, and we will actively build a worldwide oncology product portfolio. Farydak is a critical cornerstone of Secura Bio’s strategic development, offering a higher-value therapeutic opportunity for the treatment of multiple myeloma.”

Novartis, founded in 1996, is a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The company researches, develops, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of pharmaceutical products worldwide.

Novartis’s pharmaceutical products span numerous therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, ophthalmology, immunology, dermatology, neuroscience, respiratory diseases, cardiology, and metabolism. Its core businesses encompass patented medicines, generic drugs, consumer health, eye care, and animal health.

(Compiled by Wang Chan)