Biotech Dimerix lands $940m licensing deal for kidney drug...

Biotech Dimerix lands $940m licensing deal for kidney drug salesMichael SmithHealth editorMay 1, 2025 – 8.00pmSaveShareGift this article

ASX-listed Dimerix has landed one of the biggest licensing deals by an Australian biotechnology company after US pharmaceutical group Amicus Therapeutics agreed to $940 million in payments for future sales of its kidney disease drug.Shares in Melbourne-based Dimerix were trading 50 per cent higher on news of the breakthrough on Thursday afternoon, valuing the company at $400 million.

The biotech group counts former Fortescue Metals and WorleyParsons executive Peter Meurs as its biggest shareholder, with a 13.5 per cent stake.

“It’s safe to say this is one of the biggest licensing deals Australia’s ever had in the biotech space,” chief executive Nina Webster told The Australian Financial Review. ” There are a good number of patients globally for this particular disease, and there are no products approved anywhere in the world at the moment, so this is a real opportunity.”The deal gives Amicus exclusive US rights to Dimerix’s drug DMX-200, which was developed to treat a rare kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which damages the filtration function of the kidney.

The drug is still in phase three clinical trials, which, if successful, pave the way for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and commercialisation.Dimerix will receive a $48 million upfront payment, and up to $892 million for success-based milestone payments, in addition to royalties on sales under the deal with Amicus.

It was the company’s fourth and biggest licensing deal, bringing the total payments to $1.4 billion after accounting for previous agreements covering sales in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and the Middle East.“This shows shareholders we have had four parties go through every drawer, turn over every leaf and still sign on that bottom line,” said Webster, who joined the company as chief executive in 2018 from senior roles at pharmaceutical company Acrux.Australia’s biotech and medical device companies are having mixed success in what is an industry with high risks, and high rewards.

Earlier this year, eye treatment hopeful Opthea blew up its entire $740 million market capitalisation after the failure of a late-stage trial, crushing returns at major investors such as Regal Partners.However, shares in Neuren Pharmaceuticals, which treats a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder called Rett Syndrome – which primarily affects women and causes progressive loss of motor skills and language – rose 20 per cent earlier this month after receiving approval that clears the way for trials of a new key drug.

“The difference between what we and Neuren have done is we both got partners earlier which supports development all the way through, whereas Opthea didn’t have any partners at all,” Webster said.

Dimerix’s success will hinge on the results of a phase three clinical trial running in 21 countries around the world. It is scheduled to take two years, but Webster said its orphan drug status, a designation given to drugs developed to treat rare diseases, means there was an opportunity for accelerated approval, and it could go to market as early as later this year.

She said Dimerix had not experienced any setbacks or problems with the FDA, despite US President Donald Trump’s staffing cuts to the regulator.

Dimerix was founded in Western Australia in 2004. It listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in late 2015 through a reverse takeover.