Relief Therapeutics Holding (Relief), a biopharmaceutical company seeking to provide patients therapeutic relief from serious diseases with high unmet need, has closed a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of AdVita Lifescience (AdVita), a Germany-based, privately held pharmaceutical company developing effective products and strategies to improve the treatment and diagnosis of rare lung diseases.
With the acquisition, Relief has gained additional pending intellectual property rights that may cover RLF-100TM inhaled formulation specifications and the potential application of inhaled aviptadil for the treatment of lung diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pulmonary sarcoidosis and checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis (CIP).
Under the terms of the agreement, Relief paid AdVita shareholders a total of 135,741,063 Relief common shares, representing EUR25 million in value based on a 60-day Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of Relief’s common stock, to acquire all outstanding shares of AdVita. In addition, Relief will pay milestone payments of up to EUR 20 million in cash, contingent to achievement of certain regulatory milestones related to AdVita’s development programs.
Jack Weinstein, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Relief, says: “We are pleased to close this acquisition, which brings to Relief additional intellectual property concerning inhaled formulations of aviptadil. In addition, the AdVita team has strong expertise with aviptadil that has already been extremely helpful as we advance our plans for the development of the inhaled formulation of RLF-100 for the prevention of Covid-related ARDS, as well as other potential lung diseases.”
Wolfgang Hoppe, Chief Executive Officer of AdVita, says: “We are delighted to join the Relief team and are excited about working together to develop inhaled aviptadil with the goal of bringing it to patients with respiratory diseases where there is a need for better treatment options.”
In April, Relief and AdVita initiated an investigator-sponsored phase 2 trial with inhaled aviptadil for the prevention of Covid-related acute respiratory distress syndrome. The study, “Inhaled aviptadil for the Prevention of Covid-19 Related ARDS” (NCT 04536350), is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial being conducted at major clinical sites in Switzerland.
