OXU-005

Regeneron, maker of the blockbuster ophthalmology medicine Eylea, has acquired an ocular biotech, the large biopharma confirmed to Endpoints News on Thursday. The London-area biotech, named Oxular, was bought last month, according to board member and recently departed CEO Mark Gaffney. He posted about the deal on LinkedIn on Thursday afternoon. Gaffney is now CEO of inflammation and fibrosis biotech Calluna Pharma. Regeneron had not previously announced the deal, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email. The New York-based drugmaker plans to disclose more details in its next quarterly filing, the spokesperson added. “This was a targeted acquisition that provides us with a potential best-in-class delivery device for our future ocular gene therapies, with the goal of accelerating the time it will take to reach clinical readiness,” the Regeneron spokesperson wrote. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Regeneron’s clinical-stage gene therapy pipeline currently revolves around a hearing loss program. Oxular could help with its expansion. Regeneron also inked a retinal gene therapy pact with German biotech ViGeneron in April 2022. Ophthalmology has long been a cornerstone of Regeneron’s business. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.53 billion in sales of Eylea and its high-dose counterpart (marketed as Eylea HD ) in the most recent quarter. Oxular was developing a biodegradable polymer system and a semi-automated ocular administration device to help extend the duration of eye disease treatments to about 12 months. It had been in Phase 2 development and was exploring treatments for diabetic macular edema, retinoblastoma, uveal melanoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Regeneron declined to comment on whether it would continue advancing any of Oxular’s pipeline programs, including OXU-001, OXU-003, OXU-004 and OXU-005. The startup last disclosed a $37 million funding round in March 2021. It was backed by Dutch investor Forbion, IP Group, NeoMed and V-Bio Ventures. Regeneron hasn’t been as acquisitive, or doled out the same price tags, as some of its pharma peers in recent years. In early 2024, it bought the R&D unit from 2seventy bio . In 2023, it acquired hearing loss gene therapy maker Decibel Therapeutics, and in 2022, it snagged Checkmate Pharmaceuticals .