ALIVEXIS
Alivexis, Inc. (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, “Alivexis”) and Melodia Therapeutics AG (headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, “Melodia”), a company established by Forty51 Ventures, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive license agreement for the worldwide development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Alivexis' MDI-0151, a novel Cathepsin C inhibitor with best-in-class potential. MDI-0151 is an innovative clinical candidate identified in Alivexis’ MOD-A discovery program.
Melodia will rapidly initiate IND-enabling activities for MDI-0151 to prepare for a Phase 1/Phase 2a study in various refractory inflammatory diseases caused by excessive activation of neutrophils, such as ANCA-associated Vasculitis and several other relevant diseases in the context of neutrophils. Patients suffering from these diseases have a high unmet medical need.
Alivexis and Melodia will leverage their respective expertise in drug discovery research and development with the aim of obtaining clinical Proof of Concept in these indications.
Under the terms of the agreement, Alivexis grants Melodia worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize MDI-0151 and will receive from Melodia an upfront payment and development and sales milestone payments totaling up to approximately $275 million (JPY 42.7 billion1), and will be entitled to receive royalties on net sales of any marketed product. In addition, Alivexis is eligible to receive a number of warrants to subscribe for Melodia's common shares.
S. Roy Kimura, Ph.D., CEO of Alivexis, commented on the deal: “I am pleased to announce the signing of our licensing and clinical partnership with Melodia for our MOD-A Cathepsin C inhibitor program. This event marks a significant milestone for Alivexis and serves as validation of our drug discovery R&D team and platform, our proprietary pipeline of discovery programs, and our business model involving the use of our cutting-edge platform to accelerate clinical candidate discovery for diseases with high unmet need. This is the first of many licensing and collaboration agreements that we anticipate from our maturing portfolio of IND-ready candidate molecules in our pipeline and our unique and proven discovery platform. We are confident that the Melodia team will be able to take our candidate molecule through clinical trials and ultimately help many patients in need suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases.”
Melodia’s founding shareholder Forty51 Ventures commented on the deal: “We are extremely pleased to in-license and continue the development of MDI-0151. We consider that this asset from Alivexis has best-in-class, blockbuster potential. Melodia aims to develop the program in a variety of underserved indications in the field of immunology. Further announcements will follow shortly as Melodia advances this program expeditiously.”
About MDI-0151
MDI-0151 is a clinical candidate compound from the Alivexis’ discovery program MOD-A, focused on Cathepsin C inhibition. Cathepsin C, also known as dipeptidyl peptidase-1 (DPP-1), is an enzyme responsible for the activation of a group of proteases that play an important role in the destruction of tissues by neutrophils. As inhibition of Cathepsin C is believed to have little effect on the immune function of neutrophils, MDI-0151 may effectively treat various immune and inflammatory diseases while not compromising the immune system.
About Alivexis, Inc.
Headquarter: Daiichi Hibiya Building 7F, Shimbashi 1-18-21, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004, Japan
Representative directors: S. Roy Kimura, Ph.D., CEO / Kazuki Ohno, Dr. Eng. COO
Established: August 8, 2016
URL: https://alivexis.com
Business Description: A network-based drug discovery company utilizing cutting-edge technologies.
About Melodia Therapeutics AG
Headquarter: Basel, Switzerland
Founding shareholder: Forty51 Advisors AG
Established: December 2023
URL: https://www.melodiatx.com
Business Description: A biotech company focused on developing therapies for neutrophil-driven diseases.
1 *USD/JPY conversion rate: 155
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240620110656/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Celonis Research Unveils: 89% of Business Leaders say AI Without Process Intelligence Fails to Deliver Expected Results5.2.2025 10:00:00 CET | Press release
The vast majority of decision makers surveyed (89%) said AI needs to have the context of how their business runs to deliver the expected results.81% of respondents said their companies plan to use AI specifically to improve business processes in the next 12 months.The majority (58%) of leaders worry that process shortcomings may limit AI’s contribution to their business. Celonis, the global leader in Process Mining and Process Intelligence, today released survey findings that demonstrate widespread recognition that AI requires Process Intelligence to be effective and relevant for the business. With Celonis Process Intelligence, AI gains the context it needs to understand how a business runs and how to make it run better. The 2025 Process Optimization Report shows that the vast majority of enterprise leaders (89%) say it’s crucial that AI has the context of how their business runs if it is going to deliver meaningful results and increase operational efficiency. The majority (58%) worry
Infobip Recognized as a Worldwide CPaaS Leader by IDC MarketScape for the Third Time5.2.2025 10:00:00 CET | Press release
Global cloud communications platform Infobip has been named as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2025 Vendor Assessment. This is the third time that Infobip has been named a Leader in this report. According to the report, “Infobip is a key player in the CPaaS market with a global footprint and strong capabilities underpinned by its broad portfolio for enterprises as well as a carrier-grade service offering.” Courtney Munroe, Research Vice President, Worldwide Telecommunications Research at IDC, said:“Infobip has an agile organization structure and appetite for innovation to meet evolving enterprise requirements that stimulates continued expansion of its capabilities and global presence. The firm’s strong breadth and depth of services has enabled it to grow rapidly while maintaining a strong financial position.” Silvio Kutić, CEO at Infobip, said: “Over the last year, Infobip has continued to invest in innovative new services. For in
FoodChain ID and &Wider Announce Partnership for Responsible and Transparent Supply Chains That Protect Workers and Brands5.2.2025 10:00:00 CET | Press release
FoodChain ID, a provider of certification services and technology for the agriculture and food industry, and &Wider, a due diligence data company measuring worker engagement for responsible sourcing, announce their partnership for risk-based monitoring and auditing of worker conditions and engagement. The new service meets the demand from global brands to monitor and mitigate potential worker issues within their supply chains, as well as the requirements for transparent actions and reporting under the European Union’s (EU) Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250205893945/en/ FoodChain ID and &Wider have announced a partnership for risk-based monitoring and auditing of food industry worker conditions to protect workers and food brands. (Photo: Business Wire) The CSDDD created an obligation for due dilig
Alipay Records Surge of China Inbound and Outbound Travel Spending During the 2025 Chinese New Year5.2.2025 07:59:00 CET | Press release
The number of Alipay transactions made by outbound Chinese travelers across the 90 million-strong Alipay+ global merchants network increased by 30% y-o-y. The top destinations for Chinese travelers are Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, and South Korea, showing the highest growth rate in total Alipay spending.China inbound travel spending via Alipay surged by 150% y-o-y in the first five days of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday. The number of inbound travelers using their 13 home e-wallets supported by the Alipay+ solution nearly doubled y-o-y during the first four days of the holiday.Alipay’s flagship Fortune Cards Campaign drew 600 million participants this year, reaching a cumulative of one billion users in the past decade since its launch in 2016. During the 2025 Chinese New Year, Alipay recorded a significant increase in China’s outbound and inbound travel spending. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home
Hitachi Establishes Its Fourth Corporate Venture Capital Fund to Capture Technology Turning Points and Future Growth Opportunities5.2.2025 07:00:00 CET | Press release
Total Assets Under Management (AUM) Reaches 1 Billion USD, Contributing to Sustainable Growth with a World-Class Investment Scale Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501, "Hitachi") today announced the establishment of the fourth fund of the corporate venture capital (hereinafter referred to as "CVC") fund"HV Fund" with a purpose to identify startups with the potential to create or disrupt large attractive markets, anticipate the next technological and social turning points, and generate future growth opportunities. The fourth fund will have a size of 400 million USD, which is the largest CVC fund managed by Hitachi to date. The fund will make strategic investments in startups with cutting-edge digital technologies such as data centers, distributed energy systems, future of work and industrial AI, as well as startups in new frontiers including bio, quantum, nuclear fusion, life science, space and adjacent technologies. With the establishment of the fourth fund, Hitachi's investment in CVC will reach
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom