Aceragen Acquires Arrevus, Expands Late-Stage Rare Disease Pipeline

Acaragen, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for rare and orphan diseases, announced the acquisition of Arrevus Inc., another biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for orphan infectious diseases, on Oct. 28, 2021. Following this acquisition, Acaragen will receive rights to Arrevus’ lead candidate, ARV-1801 (now ACG-721), an oral, small molecule treatment in late-stage development for indications including cystic fibrosis, as well as several other preclinical programs.

According to a company press release, Aceragen plans to launch clinical studies for their newly acquired ACG-721 and ACC-801 treatment candidates. ACG-801 is an investigational form of recombinant human acid ceramidase (rhAC) designed to address the enzyme deficiency that causes Farber disease. The company hopes that ACG-721 can create a foundation in the cystic fibrosis field from which it can investigate ACG-801’s complementary mechanism.

“The acquisition of Arrevus represents a major step forward for Acaragen in executing on its stated goal of building a multi-product rare disease company that aspires to commercialize its own products,” said John Taylor, president and CEO, Aceragen, in a company press release. “Adding Arrevus’ clinical and regulatory capabilities along with its lead program in late-stage development, advances our transition to a diversified, rare-disease-focused biotech company with an amazing growth trajectory. We don’t see many other companies in the rare and orphan disease space that have the same combination of superior talent and a late-stage portfolio of targeted, high-value assets.”