Amylyx Pharmaceuticals is venturing into metabolic diseases, buying the rights to bankrupt drugmaker Eiger BioPharmaceuticals' investigational GLP-1 drug for low blood sugar.
Per an SEC filing from Eiger, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April, Amylyx was selected as the wining bidder in a bankruptcy court auction, picking up the late-stage GLP-1 antagonist, avexitide, in a $35.1 million deal.
According to Eiger, avexitide binds to the GLP-1 receptor on pancreatic beta cells and behaves as a GLP-1 antagonist and inverse agonist, reducing fasting and amino acid-induced cAMP accumulation and thereby decreasing calcium-stimulated insulin secretion.
Avexitide is being tested in four phase 2 studies for patients suffering from post-bariatric hypoglycemia (PBH), a complication of bariatric and other gastrointestinal surgeries. The drug is also phase 3-ready for the treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism, an ultra-rare, pediatric metabolic disorder.
Amylyx, which previously focused on neurodegenerative diseases, is coming off a very public discontinuation of its ALS treatment, Relyvrio, after phase 3 trial results failed to demonstrate the drug’s efficacy. Back in March, the drugmaker shared disappointing results from a confirmatory study on Relyvrio, which failed to meet primary or secondary goals and proceeded to pull the treatment, which won approval in 2022, from the market.
