Big Pharma granted option to acquire blood-brain-barrier crossing technology designed to enhance delivery of therapeutics to the brain.
Longevity biotech Sironax has announced a strategic agreement with pharma giant Novartis, granting the pharmaceutical company an exclusive option to acquire its proprietary platform designed to enhance the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Under the agreement, Novartis will have a designated evaluation period to assess the platform’s potential, after which it may exercise the option to acquire full global rights. In return, Sironax is eligible to receive up to $175 million in “upfront and near-term payments.”
As individuals age, structural and functional changes in the BBB can both exacerbate disease progression and complicate drug delivery to the brain. Finding ways to effectively bypass its restrictive nature remains a key challenge in managing age-related neurological disorders, and it appears that Novartis believes Sironax may have made progress in this area with a platform designed to improve brain penetration of a variety of therapeutic modalities.
“Effectively delivering therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier remains one of the most important challenges in drug discovery,” said Novartis’ head of neuroscience and biomedical research Robert Baloh. “We’re excited to enter into this agreement with Sironax to fully explore the promise of the BDM platform, leveraging our deep expertise and capabilities in neuroscience to bring forward next-generation therapies for patients in need.”
According to a statement released by the company, Sironax will retain the right to continue developing selected therapeutic assets that use its BBB delivery platform. The company is focused on therapies that address the root causes of age-related degenerative diseases, targeting fundamental biological mechanisms, including dysregulated cell death, chronic inflammation and energy imbalance.
Sironax’s research spans several pathway-driven approaches, such as NAD+ pathway modulation, neuroprotective mechanisms and neuroinflammation. This has resulted in a pipeline of several pipeline programs, encompassing both small and large molecules, for indications including neurodegenerative, muscle degenerative and inflammatory diseases.
“This partnership combines Novartis’s global expertise in neuroscience with Sironax’s high-quality innovation, maximizing the potential impact of our brain delivery platform,” Sironax CEO Dr Shefali Agarwal. “At the same time, we will continue to explore our targets of interest with the platform and deliver brain-penetrant therapeutics.”
