Gilead and Goldfinch Bio have collaborated to discover, develop and commercialise a pipeline of innovative therapeutics for diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and certain orphan kidney diseases.
The multi-year collaboration will expand the scope of Goldfinch’s proprietary Kidney Genome Atlas (KGA), a comprehensive registry of patients with kidney diseases integrating genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data with patient clinical profiles. The expansion will go beyond orphan kidney diseases to include DKD.
Under the terms of the agreement, Goldfinch will also apply its biology platform of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney cells and kidney organoids to validate targets and support discovery and development of products to which Gilead will have exclusive option rights.
Goldfinch will receive $55 million in upfront payments, which includes a $5 million equity investment, and will also receive an additional $54 million in committed payments to support the development of the KGA platform for DKD.
US based Goldfinch has established “Unique genetic and biology platforms that will allow for the identification and validation of novel targets for kidney disease and for the discovery and development of novel compounds,” said John McHutchison, chief scientific officer and head of Research and Development at Gilead Sciences. “We look forward to partnering with our research collaborators at Goldfinch, as we seek to advance novel treatment options for people living with DKD and other serious kidney diseases.”
DKD develops in approximately 30 to 40% of patients who have diabetes and is a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and early mortality worldwide. Despite current therapies, the number of people with DKD continues to increase, highlighting the need for additional treatments that preserve kidney function.
