BridgeBio, Kyowa Kirin announces partnership

BridgeBio Pharma (BBIO) and Kyowa Kirin (KYKOF) announced a partnership wherein BridgeBio’s affiliate, QED Therapeutics, grants Kyowa Kirin an exclusive license to develop and commercialize infigratinib for achondroplasia, hypochondroplasia, and other skeletal dysplasias in Japan. In exchange, BridgeBio will receive an upfront payment of USD 100 million as well as royalties up to the high-twenties percent on sales of infigratinib in Japan, with the potential for additional milestone-based payments. Infigratinib is an oral small molecule designed to inhibit FGFR3 and thus target FGFR3-driven skeletal dysplasias at their source, including achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia. “We are pleased to partner with Kyowa Kirin given their community-oriented core mission to bring smiles to faces by providing innovative medicines with life-changing value, which has seen success with their commercialization of Crysvita and other rare disease drugs. The BridgeBio vision is to help bring people access to novel treatments and trials, and so we are pleased that this collaboration will ensure the development of infigratinib for children living with achondroplasia, and eventually for other skeletal dysplasias in Japan,” said Neil Kumar, Ph.D., BridgeBio’s CEO and founder.