After tracking success in animals, neurosciences star Denali moves early to bag an option on a promising tech for crossing the blood-brain barrier
Flush with cash and bursting at the seams from rapid growth as it looks to break the long, ugly losing streak for Alzheimer’s R&D and other tough diseases, the executive crew at Denali $DNLI has struck an early deal to pick up their option on the antibody tech they’ve been using to smuggle drugs through the blood-brain barrier.
The South San Francisco-based biotech has completed a deal to buy F-Star Gamma, a group set up by F-Star’s Fc engineers developing Fcabs to target transporters in the BBB, a hurdle nature set up to protect the brain and a long-standing obstacle to drug developers. Denali is handing over $24 million to nail the option close to two years after they struck their pact. And there’s some added cash in that figure to expand their work to cover two new, undisclosed transporter targets.
Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.
You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.