Patients who received the drug, known as brepocitinib and licensed from Pfizer, had a meaningfully lower rate of “treatment failure,” a mixed measure of eye inflammation and other disease markers, than did those given placebo. Roivant claimed the findings surpass results for Humira, the only non-steroid treatment approved for the condition. No new safety concerns were reported, the company said. Roivant simultaneously revealed plans to buy back up to $1.5 billion of its shares, including $648 million worth of stock held by Sumitomo Pharma. The Japanese drugmaker has invested in, or acquired, multiple Roivant subsidiaries in recent years. Roivant is a so-called hub-and-spoke biotech, with a web of subsidiaries custom-built to advance specific drug candidates in different therapeutic areas. In Roivant’s case, those prospects are typically plucked from the shelves of pharmaceutical companies.
The strategy hasn’t always worked out. One of its subsidiaries, the Alzheimer’s drug developer Axovant Sciences, collapsed several years ago. But the company has had a recent run of success, highlighted by the $7 billion sale of Televant last year. The trial data released Tuesday are the latest example. A Phase 3 study in dermatomyositis is ongoing, with results expected in 2025. But the study results achieved in uveitis are “extremely impressive” and “compare very favorably” to what was seen with Humira, wrote Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger, in a Tuesday note to clients. Specifically, 29% of the patients treated with a 45 milligram dose met the study’s criteria for treatment failure after 24 weeks. Though comparing drugs across trials is difficult, Risinger noted that Humira had a 62% treatment failure rate at 25 weeks in a larger trial. A Phase 3 study in non-infectious uveitis should begin in the second half of 2024, Roivant said.
The share repurchase deal, meanwhile, will see Roivant acquire Sumitomo’s 71.3 million shares at $9.10 apiece. The deal will reduce Roivant’s total number of outstanding shares by 9%. Shares for Roivant rose by about 5% in Tuesday trading.