NEW YORK – Kriya Therapeutics on Wednesday said it has acquired Tramontane Therapeutics, a company developing gene therapies for metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.
The companies didn't disclose the financial details of the deal, but Kriya said it bought the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona spinout to get its hands on Tramontane's portfolio of fibroblast growth factor 21 assets, including a lead adeno-associated virus vector designed to enable steady expression of the native FGF21 protein.
Tramontane has prioritized development of this gene therapy in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a setting in which FGF21 has been validated as a biological target. Around 17 million people in the US have NASH, a severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease characterized by a buildup of fat deposits in the liver that can cause severe damage and organ failure necessitating liver transplant. There are currently no US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for stopping NASH or reversing its progression.
FGF21 has also shown to produce positive metabolic effects in the liver and in other organs. Kriya expects to begin clinical trials of Tramontane's lead gene therapy in NASH by the first half of 2025.
Kriya is optimistic that a one-time AAV gene therapy designed to enable continuous expression of native FGF21 may improve patient compliance, tissue distribution, and receptor binding as well as avoid pharmacokinetic variability and deliver multiyear efficacy in a chronic disease setting.
"We are very impressed with the data associated with the Tramontane FGF21 program, which has consistently established strong efficacy and durability across multiple validated animal models of obesity and NASH," Kriya Cofounder and CEO Shankar Ramaswamy said in a statement, adding that this asset strategically aligns with Kriya's own development programs in metabolic diseases, including a one-time gene therapy under development for insulin-dependent diabetes.