Halozyme partners with Oruka for psoriasis drug development deal

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) announced a global collaboration and license agreement with Oruka Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ORKA) to develop ORKA-001 using Halozyme's Hypercon technology for psoriatic disease treatment.

Under the agreement, Oruka licensed Halozyme's Hypercon technology for use with ORKA-001, which is in development for psoriasis and related inflammatory diseases, plus one additional target. Hypercon is a microparticle technology designed to hyperconcentrate drugs and biologics, reducing injection volume for a given dose.

"We are pleased to announce our second Hypercon collaboration this year, further validating the broad applicability and partner interest in this technology," said Dr. Helen Torley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Halozyme.

Lawrence Klein, Chief Executive Officer of Oruka Therapeutics, stated: "We are excited to partner with Halozyme's Hypercon in our pursuit to offer the best possible medicines to people with chronic skin conditions like psoriasis."

The financial terms include an upfront payment from Oruka to Halozyme and potential future milestone payments. Halozyme will receive mid-single digit royalties on net sales of products developed using the Hypercon technology.

Halozyme's Hypercon technology portfolio includes partnerships with pharmaceutical companies including Janssen, Eli Lilly, argenx and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The company also operates its ENHANZE drug delivery technology, which has been used in ten commercialized products across over 100 global markets.

Oruka Therapeutics develops biologics for chronic skin diseases, focusing on treatments that aim for complete disease clearance with dosing as infrequently as once or twice per year.

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