By Kunal Das
May 27 (Reuters) – Apogee Therapeutics on Wednesday posted favorable results from a mid-stage trial of its experimental eczema drug and secured a financing deal worth up to $1.3 billion with Blackstone Life Sciences.
The deal will support late-stage development and potential commercialization of the drug, Apogee said.
The company’s lead drug candidate, zumilokibart, is being developed for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic skin disease.
In the trial, 65.9% of the 346 adult patients on the mid-dose and 61.6% of those on the higher dose achieved at least a 75% improvement in eczema severity after 16 weeks, compared with the 23.4% on placebo. The drug met all main and secondary goals.
With the high dose underperforming the mid-dose, the results appear mixed and are likely to weigh on the stock, Citi analyst Geoff Meacham said.
Apogee’s shares were trading nearly 6% lower at $78.06.
‘FRONTLINE DRUG OF CHOICE’
CEO Michael Henderson pushed back on concerns around the high dose, saying, “Some people might have wanted to see the high dose, but the mid-dose kind of created a very clear choice and is a great go-forward dose.”
“We think there’s a clear path forward for this being the frontline drug of choice in AD.”
Apogee plans to advance the selected mid-dose into late-stage studies in the second half of 2026.
Henderson said the Blackstone financing gives Apogee a path to fund development without relying on equity markets, while preserving strategic flexibility.
The deal includes up to $800 million through a royalty agreement and access to up to $500 million in senior debt. If zumilokibart gets U.S. FDA approval, Apogee can access up to another $400 million in royalty funding.
The company is also looking to develop zumilokibart beyond eczema, including in asthma and later, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It plans to begin an asthma study in the first half of 2027.
“We have pipeline and product potential with Zumi,” Henderson said.
He added that the company is following the path laid out by Regeneron’s Dupixent, which is approved to treat chronic inflammatory conditions such as eczema and asthma, among others.
(Reporting by Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Shreya Biswas)
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