Leyden Labs Acquires RIGImmune

Gunderson Dettmer represented RIGImmune in its acquisition by Leyden Labs. 

RIGImmune is a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of immune modulating therapies for diseases caused by RNA viruses and for antitumor immune response induction. Completed earlier this year, Leyden Labs’ acquisition of RIGImmune added its RIG-101 and proprietary NEED™ (Nano-Emulsion Effective Delivery) intranasal delivery platform to the company’s growing portfolio of airway-targeted medicines. The acquisition will support Leyden Labs’ efforts to protect vulnerable populations from airborne viral infections.

The announcement of the acquisition comes as Leyden Labs reports positive Phase 1 results for RIG-101, an intranasal therapy initially being studied to prevent virus-triggered asthma exacerbations by strengthening natural antiviral defenses. In the recently completed trial, RIG-101 was shown to be safe and well tolerated in healthy volunteers and patients with asthma.

“These Phase 1 results provide encouraging evidence that RIG-101 has the profile needed to advance into Phase 2 patient studies,” said Susan Sobolov, CTO of Leyden Labs and former President and COO of RIGImmune, in the announcement of the acquisition. “We believe the enhancement of innate antiviral response represents a promising new therapeutic strategy for the prevention of a broad range of respiratory viral infections in vulnerable patients with chronic airway disease.”

The Gunderson deal team was led by Tim Ehrlich and Tim Kulis and included Alex Bloom, Bennett Evans, Lily Kim, Ray Fang, Emily Cabrera, and Mark Macchi.