AstraZeneca PLC is spinning off a new biotech company, Viela Bio, to develop medicines for autoimmune diseases, with funding of up to $250 million from an investor group.
The Cambridge, U.K.-based drugmaker's research and development unit, MedImmune LLC, is moving out six experimental compounds from its early-stage inflammation and autoimmunity programs to form the independent biotech company.
Viela Bio will focus on creating therapies for severe autoimmune diseases — when a patient's immune system attacks the body by mistake.
The biotech will get three clinical and three preclinical candidates from MedImmune, including inebilizumab, which is in a phase 2 trial for treating a rare eye disorder.
Inebilizumab was granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2016 and by the European Medicines Agency in 2017 for treating neuromyelitis optica, a disease where the immune system attacks a patient's eye nerves and spinal cord.
Neuromyelitis optica affects about five in 100,000 people, AstraZeneca said.
Orphan drug designations are usually granted to treatments for rare diseases, and can grant a drug developer market exclusivity and opportunities for additional funding.
Meanwhile, the medicines do not include anifrolumab, a drug in late-stage phase 3 development for treating lupus, another autoimmune disease.
Viela Bio will be headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., with AstraZeneca remaining the largest minority shareholder. The funding will come from investors led by Boyu Capital, 6 Dimensions Capital and Hillhouse Capital.
