NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding BV and Frazier LifeSciences Acquisition Corporation (FLAC) have entered into a definitive business combination agreement, providing NewAmsterdam with additional cash for its main drug candidate, oral cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor obicetrapib.
Upon closing of the transaction, a newly formed holding company, NewAmsterdam Pharma Company NV, will be led by Michael Davidson, chief executive officer of the company.
The Dutch biotech will receive approximately $235m from a private placement led by Frazier Healthcare Partners and Bain Capital Life Sciences and funds held in Frazier’s trust account.
The proceeds from this transaction, combined with the upfront payment of $123m received from NewAmsterdam’s recently announced licensing agreement with the Menarini Group and the company’s existing cash, would bring the NewAmsterdam’s total cash reserve to around $470m when the deal closes in the second half of 2022.
The company believes the cash total will be sufficient to fund operations until 2026, beyond multiple phase 3 data read-outs for obicetrapib, including an ongoing cardiovascular outcomes trial.
Obicetrapib, is a next-generation oral, low-dose and once-daily CETP inhibitor for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and preventing major adverse cardiovascular events, which could potentially serve a global population of over 30 million patients with unmet medical need in cardiovascular disease.
Commenting on the merger, Davidson, said: “Cardiovascular disease remains a significant unmet need and is the number one cause of death in western countries, with high LDL levels being the chief culprit responsible for adverse outcomes and two-thirds of patients not reaching LDL goals despite the wide availability of statins.
“Adding a potential new convenient oral therapy that has been observed to confer an additional 51% of LDL-lowering on top of high-dose statins could transform the treatment paradigm for this large patient population.”
Following the finalisation of the transaction, James Topper, managing partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners and chairman of the Board of Directors and chief executive officer of FLAC and Nicholas Downing, principal at Bain Capital Life Sciences, will join the NewAmsterdam Board of Directors.
Topper said: “We founded FLAC in hopes of acquiring a therapeutics-focused company with near-term inflection points, experienced and highly credentialed leadership and sufficient capital to support planned operations well into the future. We have found exactly this in NewAmsterdam.”