Apogee secures up to $1.3 billion from Blackstone to advance eczema drug

May 27 (Reuters) – Apogee Therapeutics said on Wednesday it secured a financing deal with Blackstone Life Sciences worth up to $1.3 billion to support late-stage development and potential commercialization of its experimental eczema drug, zumilokibart.

The drug developer’s shares fell nearly 12% in premarket trading after it also reported the results of a mid-stage trial of zumilokibart.

• The deal includes up to $800 million through a royalty agreement and access to up to $500 million in senior debt.

• Zumilokibart, Apogee’s lead drug candidate, is being developed for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, a chronic skin disease.

• Apogee separately said the drug met all main and secondary goals in a mid-stage trial with 346 adults.

• The company said 65.9% of patients on the mid-dose and 61.6% of those on the higher dose achieved at least a 75% improvement in eczema severity after 16 weeks, compared with 23.4% on placebo.

• With the high dose underperforming the mid-dose, the results appear mixed and are likely to weigh on the stock, Citi analyst Geoff Meacham said.

• Truist analyst Danielle Brill said the stock reaction could also be driven by the royalty agreement with Blackstone, which removes the possibility of Apogee being a potential candidate for M&A.

• Apogee plans to advance the selected mid-dose into late-stage studies in the second half of 2026.

• Mizuho analyst Joseph Catanzaro said the mid-dose data, combined with less frequent maintenance dosing, support the drug’s potential best-in-class profile on efficacy and convenience.

• If zumilokibart gets FDA approval, Apogee can access up to another $400 million in royalty funding.

• “This is the largest royalty financing for a pre-Phase 3 program to date,” said Kiran Reddy, senior managing director at Blackstone Life Sciences.

(Reporting by Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)