Blackstone Life Sciences commits $250m to Anagram, targeting a $2bn market
Blackstone Life Sciences has committed $250m to Anagram Therapeutics.
The capital will fund continued development, regulatory approval, and commercial launch of ANG003, the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company’s lead candidate.
ANG003 is a novel orally delivered enzyme replacement therapy targeting exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
The deal gives Blackstone exposure to a candidate with the potential to be the first non-porcine enzyme replacement therapy in its category. Existing treatments are derived from pig pancreas glands.
Patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency due to cystic fibrosis, pancreatic cancer, and related disorders today face a daily pill burden of up to 40 capsules. ANG003 is being developed to require only a single tablet per meal. If that profile holds through later-stage trials, it would meaningfully reshape standard of care in a roughly $2bn US market.
The strategic rationale is consistent with Blackstone Life Sciences’s playbook. The firm writes scale equity into late-stage development assets with a clear regulatory and commercial path.
“This is an excellent case study of our ownership strategy where we bring scale capital, deep domain expertise, and hands-on engagement to help address large unmet medical needs,” said Dr. Nicholas Galakatos, Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences.
The investment thesis is underpinned by both a clinical and a supply-chain argument. Existing porcine-derived products require extensive plastic coatings to survive gastric transit. They have also been subject to recurring global supply shortages.
“The large unmet need in EPI is clear as gastrointestinal symptoms and global supply issues for existing porcine derived products continue to be a real problem,” added Kiran Reddy, MD, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Life Sciences. “Patients today also face an enormous, disruptive pill burden, taking up to 40 pills a day to treat their EPI. We expect ANG003 to only require one tablet per meal which we believe will positively impact compliance and quality of life.”
Anagram is now initiating an international Phase 2 study with ANG003. The trial follows positive data from an earlier clinical study in people with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency due to cystic fibrosis.
The Blackstone commitment follows more than $30m in earlier funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. That support enabled much of the clinical and development work on the asset to date.