Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, an unorthodox biotechnology startup advancing a new medicine for a genetic eye condition, is selling itself in a deal worth up to $800 million.
The purchase announced Thursday will see Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, the developer of a range of treatments for eye, skin and infectious conditions, acquire Alkeus for $270 million in cash and $180 million in stock.
Alkeus’ shareholders could see as much as $350 million in additional payouts should the company’s drug, a prospective Stargardt disease treatment named gildeuretinol, obtain regulatory approval and achieve its first sale. Those stockholders, which include Bain Capital Life Sciences and TCGX, could see a percentage of sales royalties, too.
Should it close as expected later this year, the buyout will end an unusual journey for Alkeus, a startup that was run by one person for much of its existence and built around a drug licensed from Columbia University 16 years ago. That person, Leonide Saad, used his own money to fund Alkeus until he raised a $2 million Series A round in 2011. Alkeus then won the biotech startup competition MassChallenge and Saad used that opportunity to convince Josh Boger — a judge in that contest and the Merck & Co. chemist who founded Vertex Pharmaceuticals — to become the startup’s executive chairman in 2012.
