Tarsus Pharmaceuticals to Acquire Alkeus Pharmaceuticals

Gunderson Dettmer represented Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in its definitive agreement to acquire Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, a privately held retinal disease-focused biotechnology company developing gildeuretinol (ALK-001), an investigational once-daily oral therapy for Stargardt disease.

Tarsus applies proven science and new technology to revolutionize treatment for patients, starting with eye care. The pending acquisition represents another important step in Tarsus' long-term strategy to build a leading eye care company by bringing differentiated medicines to patients with significant unmet needs. 

“From the beginning, our strategy has been to build a leading eye care company by identifying significant diseases where patients have been starving for innovation and bringing forward medicines with the potential to change the standard of care,” said Bobby Azamian, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Tarsus, in the announcement of the transaction. “We believe gildeuretinol has the potential to be a transformational medicine for Stargardt disease and complements the retina capabilities we are already building through IRX-101. We also have tremendous respect for the Alkeus team and the exceptional work they have done to identify and bring forward an optimal asset to potentially address this blinding disease.”

A Gunderson team also recently advised Tarsus on its private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) financing. 

The Gunderson deal team was led by corporate partner Ryan Gunderson and M&A partner John Olson and included M&A associates Anthony Ramirez, Sharon Leringato, Cassius Malcolm, and Lizzie Jongeward, strategic transactions and licensing partners Brendan McCarthy and Ryan Enchelmayer and associates Alex Lee and James Yang, executive compensation partners Heather Aune and Michael Richman and associates Sofia Siegel and Becca Xu, tax partner Lily Kim and associates Tina Xu and Ray Fang, regulatory partner Gregory Kinzelman, and public companies associate Traci Biedermann.