By Jesus Calero
Aug 18 (Reuters) – Danish drugmaker LEO Pharma said on Tuesday it had agreed to acquire worldwide rights to drug candidate dersimelagon from Tanabe Pharma for up to $435 million in up-front and near-term milestone payments.
As LEO Pharma explores a potential stock-market listing, the deal adds to its efforts to build future growth drivers.
The acquisition is part of LEO Pharma’s strategy to expand into treatments for rare genetic skin diseases. The drugmaker partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim on drug Spevigo in July 2025 and agreed to acquire U.S. drug developer Replay in April.
• The deal also includes potential downstream milestone payments and tiered royalties on net sales
• Dersimelagon is an experimental oral treatment for erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) and X-linked proto-porphyria (XLP), rare genetic disorders that cause extreme sensitivity to sunlight
• The drug works by increasing melanin to help protect against painful light-induced reactions
• “The unmet need in EPP is very significant. We are looking at potentially 5,000 patients in the U.S. affected by this disease,” CEO Christophe Bourdon told Reuters
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve the drug for EPP and XLP as early as in 2027, Bourdon said, adding there should be no delay between an approval and the commercial launch of the product
• If approved, dersimelagon would be the first oral treatment for the two diseases, the company said
(Reporting by Jesus Calero in Gdansk, writing by Vera Dvorakova; editing by Matt Scuffham)
