Samumed out-licenses IPF drug candidate

Privately-held US biopharma firm Samumed has entered an exclusive license agreement for North American rights to its SM04646, being developed for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), with United Therapeutics Corp (Nasdaq: UTHR).

Deal terms include $10 million up-front, plus up to $340 million in developmental milestones and up to low double-digit royalties to be paid by United Therapeutics.

Just last month, Samumed concluded its Series A fundraising campaign having raised $438 million based on a valuation of $12 billion. Despite the scale of its success — hitting the $10 billion mark - sees Samumed join the rarified club of "decacorns," alongside AirBNB, Dropbox, Uber and Snapchat — Samumed remains coy about the identities of its investors this time round, observers noted at the time. Its angel investors included IKEA and a host of anonymous, high-wealth individuals.