Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced Monday that it has entered into an agreement to buy ViaCyte, a private biotech centered on developing therapies for type 1 diabetes.
Vertex said in a press statement that ViaCyte’s resources aimed at delivering novel stem cell-derived cell replacement therapies could further accelerate its ongoing T1D programs. Vertex’s investigational allogeneic stem cell-derived insulin-producing cell therapy VX-880 has shown “highly promising safety and efficacy results” in an ongoing Phase 1/2 study, according to the company.
The $320 million cash deal is anticipated to close by the end of the year, subject to customary regulatory approval.
“VX-880 has successfully demonstrated clinical proof of concept in T1D, and the acquisition of ViaCyte will accelerate our goal of transforming, if not curing, T1D by expanding our capabilities and bringing additional tools, technologies and assets to our current stem cell-based programs,” Vertex CEO Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., said in the statement.
The announcement was made less than two months after Vertex announced it was expanding its Boston-area presence with a new lab facility in the Seaport.
The ViaCyte acquisition highlights the recent action around diabetes in the business world as well as on the state and federal levels.
Less than a week ago, Senate Democrats removed a provision that would cap patient insulin costs at $35 per month as part of a bill aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that the state would begin producing its own low-cost insulin.
