VectivBio Holding AG and Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation announced the start of a Phase 1 study investigating the pharmacokinetics, pharmacological action, safety, and tolerability of apraglutide when a single subcutaneous dose is given to healthy Japanese adult men and women. Pharmacological actions and safety will be investigated by comparison with a placebo control. In March 2022VectivBio entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Asahi Kasei Pharma to develop and commercialize apraglutide, a next-generation, long-acting GLP-2 analog, for the treatment of short bowel syndrome with gastrointestinal failure (SBS-IF), steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and future indications in Japan.

VectivBio received an upfront cash payment of approximately $30 million ($5 million of which was the first installment of development cost-sharing) and is eligible for up to approximately $170 million in further development activities and milestone payments upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestone events. VectivBio is also eligible to receive tiered, double-digit, escalating royalties on sales of apraglutide in Japan. Vectiv Bio is conducting the STARS Phase 3 global program studying apraglutide in patients with SBS-IF with 93 sites in 18 countries, including multiple sites in Japan.

candidates from the CoMET platform are initially being evaluated in methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), propionic acidemia (PA), and other organic diseases.