CSL will pay Alentis $355 million upfront, with the Swiss biotech eligible for up to $1.2 billion more in commercial milestone payments tied to lixudebart, a potential first-in-class rare-disease treatment.
CSL, the Australian biotechnology giant, said it had entered into an agreement with Switzerland-based Alentis Therapeutics to co-develop and co-promote a treatment for rare kidney and liver diseases, in a deal worth up to $1.6 billion before development funding.
Under the terms of the partnership, CSL will make an upfront payment of $355 million, while Alentis will be eligible for up to $1.2 billion in commercial milestone payments, the companies said.
<h2>A potential first-in-class treatment</h2> The agreement gives CSL the right to jointly develop and commercialise lixudebart, previously known as ALE.F02, a potential first-in-class therapy being studied for rare kidney and liver diseases.
Lixudebart is currently in a Phase 2 trial for a rare autoimmune kidney disease that can cause irreversible kidney damage and end-stage renal disease. In 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration granted the drug orphan drug designation — a special status for investigational therapies intended to prevent, diagnose or treat rare diseases or conditions — for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease.
The two companies also plan to advance the treatment as a potential therapy for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, known as FSGS, a chronic kidney disease, and for primary sclerosing cholangitis, or PSC, a chronic liver disease for which there is currently no approved treatment.
<h2>Shared profits after launch</h2> Once the drug is commercialised, global profits will be shared 55 per cent to CSL and 45 per cent to Alentis, the companies said.
The milestone payments, worth up to $1.2 billion, are tied to commercial achievements rather than development steps, meaning they would be paid as the drug reaches defined sales or commercial targets following any approval. The upfront payment of $355 million secures CSL’s position in the co-development and co-promotion arrangement.
Rare-disease therapies target small patient populations, but such medicines often address conditions with few or no existing treatment options. The agreement comes as lixudebart moves through mid-stage clinical testing, a point at which biotech partnerships are commonly structured around shared development costs and shared commercial rights.
For Alentis, the deal pairs its research programme with CSL’s global development and commercial scale, while giving the Australian company access to a potential first-in-class asset in a therapeutic area where new options remain urgently needed.
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