Mishcon de Reya has advised Relation, a leading biotechnology company, on the legal aspects of two strategic collaborations with GSK aimed at advancing the development of novel therapeutics for fibrotic diseases and osteoarthritis. These conditions, which affect millions of people worldwide, currently have few treatments that address their root causes.
Under the terms of both agreements, Relation will receive an upfront payment from GSK of $45 million, which comprises an equity investment of $15 million. Relation will also be eligible for success-based collaboration payments of up to $63 million, as well as potential preclinical, development, and commercial milestone payments of up to $200 million per target, and tiered royalties on net sales of products.
Relation will lead observational studies to generate two unique functional disease data sets, and Relation’s Lab-in-the-Loop platform will analyse this data to discover novel disease targets. Relation will apply its platform to a number of related fibrotic conditions and osteoarthritis, while GSK will have worldwide development and commercialisation rights to any resulting targets.
The Mishcon de Reya team, led by Patrick Farrant, provided legal support throughout the negotiation and execution of these agreements, with contributions from David Rainford, Sophie Wood, James Boyle, Anna Sloan, Hugo Christie, Kunal Sankhla, Gwen Ballin-Reeler, and Hayley Cross.
Patrick Farrant, Partner at Mishcon de Reya, commented: "Supporting Relation on the legal structuring of these collaborations has been a significant undertaking, showcasing our firm’s expertise in advising on life sciences transactions. These agreements highlight the groundbreaking science that Relation is delivering, and we are proud to have played a role in enabling their strategic partnerships. Such collaborations demonstrate the transformative potential of technology-driven platforms in advancing drug discovery and development."
Benjamin Swerner, COO at Relation, added: “Great deals require great science, great ambition and great partners. With Mishcon on our team, we have been able to move swiftly and with purpose.”
About Relation
Relation is a platform biotechnology company developing medicines for diseases with significant unmet need. Relation’s Lab-in-the-Loop platform combines human genetics, single-cell multi-omics directly from human tissue, functional assays, and machine learning to discover novel disease interventions. The company has programmes across metabolic and immune diseases. To date, the company has raised over $80 million from leading investors, including DCVC, Magnetic, GSK, NVIDIA NVentures, Hitachi Ventures, Khosla and Deerfield.