Cycle Pharma to acquire Applied Therapeutics

New York, USA-based rare disease firm Applied Therapeutics (Nasdaq: APLT) has announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by privately-held UK-based Cycle Pharmaceuticals.

Applied Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the development of novel drug candidates against validated molecular targets in rare diseases. Applied’s lead drug candidate, govorestat, is a novel central nervous system (CNS) penetrant aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI) for the treatment of CNS rare metabolic diseases, including classic galactosemia, Charcot-Marie-Tooth sorbitol dehydrogenase deficiency (CMT-SORD) and phosphomannomutase 2 congenital disorder of glycosylation (PMM2-CDG).

“We are confident that Cycle has the resources and capabilities to move govorestat forward towards the ultimate goal of bringing a life-changing treatment to the patients suffering from Classic Galactosemia, CMT-SORD and PMM2-CDG, who have always been at the center of everything we do at Applied,” said Les Funtleyder, interim chief executive and chief financial officer of Applied. “I want to thank the entire Applied team for their perseverance and commitment. We are also grateful to the investigators and patients who have contributed to the development of govorestat,” he added.