Travere Therapeutics has set its sights on Everest Medicines’ therapy for rare kidney diseases, paying $112.5 million upfront for a drug that has already begun the trek into the clinic.
The deal, which also includes up to $1.03 billion in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones across as many as five indications, will grant Travere the rights to the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, called civorebrutinib, excluding China and certain countries in East and Southeast Asia, according to a June 2 release.
Civorebrutinib is an oral therapy designed to treat immune-mediated kidney diseases by inhibiting BTK, a key mediator of B-cell receptor signaling that plays an important role in B-cell activation, maturation, proliferation and differentiation into antibody-producing cells.
A phase 1/2 trial in patients with a rare autoimmune disease called primary membranous nephropathy (PMN) demonstrated reductions in anti-PLA2R autoantibodies and proteinuria, along with high rates of immunologic and clinical remission and stable kidney function through 52 weeks of follow-up, according to Travere.
Shanghai-based Everest licensed civorebrutinib from fellow Chinese companies Sinovent and SinoMab back in 2021 in a $561 million biobucks deal.
Travere CEO Eric Dube, Ph.D., said in this morning’s release that civorebrutinib is a strategic addition to the company’s rare kidney disease portfolio and has the potential to become a best-in-class therapy across multiple immune-mediated rare kidney diseases, including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and IgA nephropathy (IgAN).
“With proof-of-concept data in primary membranous nephropathy, a differentiated profile as an oral, reversible BTK inhibitor, and expected broad mechanistic applicability across diseases such as immune-mediated FSGS, minimal change disease and beyond, we believe civorebrutinib has the potential to meaningfully advance the treatment paradigm for rare kidney disease patients,” he said.
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In addition to the upfront and milestone payments, Travere will pay high-single-digit to double-digit tiered royalties on future sales in its licensed territories.
Everest Chairman Yifang Wu said the agreement with Travere aligns with the company’s broader strategy of balancing partnerships and internal R&D efforts.
“This collaboration will accelerate the global development and potential commercialization of civorebrutinib, expanding its clinical and future commercial value in autoimmune kidney diseases and the ability to deliver more innovative treatment options to patients,” Wu said.
The Everest agreement builds on Travere’s momentum in FSGS following FDA approval in April of Filspari, the first marketed treatment for the rare kidney disease. The approval came despite a negative phase 3 readout and a challenging regulatory environment that included a three-month review extension. Analysts at Leerink Partners have said the drug represents a sales opportunity exceeding $1 billion.
