Af­ter sell­ing failed NASH drug to Ipsen, French start­up nabs a liv­er dis­ease play­er in small buy­out

About two years af­ter Gen­fit record­ed a com­pa­ny-al­ter­ing flop in NASH, the French biotech’s new vi­sion ap­pears to be com­ing in­to sharp­er fo­cus.

In a small-time buy­out, Gen­fit ac­quired the Swiss start­up Ver­san­tis for CHF40 mil­lion up­front, or rough­ly $41.4 mil­lion, the com­pa­nies an­nounced ear­ly Mon­day morn­ing. The deal, which in­cludes an­oth­er CHF65 mil­lion ($67.3 mil­lion) in mile­stones, helps po­si­tion Gen­fit bet­ter in a sep­a­rate but re­lat­ed rare liv­er dis­ease: acute-on-chron­ic liv­er fail­ure, or ACLF.

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