Biotech buying manufacturing know-how for its clinical-stage radiation treatment

Minneapolis-based Humanetics, which last fall got a $6 million Department of Defense (DOD) grant to develop its clinical-stage radiation treatment, is buying from a partner all of the know-how for manufacturing the API and will move manufacturing to the U.S.

Humanetics said today it is acquiring the assets from Kaiseraugst, Switzerland-based DSM Nutritional Products, which developed and patented a method to produce a highly pure form of the API used in Humanetics’ BIO 300, a clinical-stage drug being developed for treating radiation exposure.

The deal includes “patents, trademarks, trade secret manufacturing processes, analytical methods, regulatory filings, and a large number of nonclinical and clinical safety studies.” It said it will transfer the manufacturing process to a site in the U.S. 

“We have had a long and successful collaboration with DSM, and we are excited to add these important assets to our BIO 300 program,” John Dykstra, Humanetics’ chief operating officer, said in a statement. “The assets we are acquiring from DSM will allow us to control and protect our entire manufacturing process from start to finish.”

Humanetics has been getting Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority funding for its work on the drug to mitigate the delayed effects of acute radiation exposure in the lungs. In October, it received a $6 million grant from the DOD for further development of the candidate.