Pictured: Photo illustration of hundred dollar bill and graph/iStock, Darren415

图为：百美元钞票和图表的照片插图/达伦415伊斯托克

Blackstone Life Sciences on Wednesday launched Uniquity Bio, a clinical-stage drug development company focused on immunology and inflammation, with a Phase II-ready therapeutic candidate.

Blackstone Life Sciences周三推出了Uniquity Bio，这是一家专注于免疫学和炎症的临床阶段药物开发公司，具有II期治疗候选药物。

The private investment firm is promising up to $300 million in capital to advance Uniquity Bio’s Phase II investigational new drug application for solrikitug, a monoclonal antibody targeting TSLP that was in-licensed from Merck. Solrikitug prevents the binding of TSLP, a “master switch” cytokine at the top of the inflammatory cascade.

这家私人投资公司承诺提供高达3亿美元的资金，以推进Uniquity Bio针对solrikitug的II期研究性新药申请，solrikitug是一种针对TSLP的单克隆抗体，已获得默克公司的许可。Solrikitug阻止TSLP的结合，TSLP是炎症级联反应顶部的“主开关”细胞因子。

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Uniquity Bio is looking to test the monoclonal antibody across multiple respiratory and gastrointestinal indications. It has been approved by the FDA for clinical trials and will start a Phase II study in the next month for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, which affects more than 260 million people globally. .

Uniquity Bio正寻求在多种呼吸道和胃肠道适应症中测试单克隆抗体。它已被FDA批准用于临床试验，并将于下月开始针对慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）和哮喘的II期研究，该疾病影响全球2.6亿多人。。

“We believe solrikitug has the potential to be a life-changing medication for a significant number of patients who currently have very limited treatment options, and we are excited to move into the next phase of development,” Uniquity Bio CEO Brian Lortie said in a statement.

Uniquity Bio首席执行官布莱恩·洛蒂（BrianLortie）在一份声明中表示：“我们相信，solrikitug有可能成为一种改变生活的药物，用于目前治疗选择非常有限的大量患者，我们很高兴进入下一个发展阶段。”。

Kiran Reddy, senior managing director at Blackstone Life Sciences, in a statement said that Uniquity Bio’s launch with a Phase II-ready therapeutic “demonstrates our approach of providing expertise and scale capital to our portfolio companies to help them advance their mission—and medicines—as fast as possible.” .

Blackstone Life Sciences高级董事总经理Kiran Reddy在一份声明中表示，Uniquity Bio推出的第二阶段ready治疗产品“证明了我们为我们的投资组合公司提供专业知识和规模资本的方法，以帮助他们尽快推进其使命和药物。”。

In March 2024, Blackstone signed a $750 million deal with Moderna to advance its mRNA-based flu program and reduce the biopharma’s R&D expenses. The asset manager will be eligible for commercial milestone payments and low-single digit royalties on Moderna’s flu product sales.

2024年3月，黑石公司与Moderna公司签署了一项7.5亿美元的协议，以推进其基于mRNA的流感项目，并减少生物制药的研发费用。这位资产管理人将有资格获得商业里程碑付款和Moderna流感产品销售的低个位数版税。

Blackstone focuses on lower-risk, potential blockbusters, according to Institutional Investor, and has an above-industry-average success rate for investing in products that gain FDA approval.

据机构投资者称，黑石专注于低风险、潜在的重磅炸弹，在投资获得FDA批准的产品方面，其成功率高于行业平均水平。

While the COPD and asthma markets certainly hold blockbuster potential, Uniquity Bio’s monoclonal antibody won’t be without competition. The anti-TSLP market is currently held by Amgen and AstraZeneca with Tezspire, approved by the FDA in 2021 for severe asthma. Sales of the biologic were $173 million in the first quarter of 2024, an 80% increase compared to the same period last year.

虽然COPD和哮喘市场肯定具有巨大潜力，但Uniquity Bio的单克隆抗体并非没有竞争。抗TSLP市场目前由安进（Amgen）和阿斯利康（AstraZeneca）与Tezspire共同持有，Tezspire于2021年获得FDA批准用于治疗严重哮喘。2024年第一季度，这种生物制剂的销售额为1.73亿美元，比去年同期增长了80%。

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In January 2024, GSK announced a $1.4 billion deal to purchase Aiolos Bio for its potentially biannually administered TSLP-targeting monoclonal antibody, which has been validated in early clinical trials.

2024年1月，葛兰素史克（GSK）宣布斥资14亿美元收购Aiolos Bio，购买其可能每两年一次的TSLP靶向单克隆抗体，该抗体已在早期临床试验中得到验证。

Kate Goodwin is a freelance life science writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. She can be reached at kate.goodwin@biospace.com and on LinkedIn.

凯特·古德温是爱荷华州得梅因的一名自由生命科学作家。她的联系电话是kate.goodwin@biospace.com和LinkedIn。