Bird Rock Bio

About Bird Rock Bio

Founded in 2006, Bird Rock Bio, Inc. was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that operated from La Jolla, California, before being acquired by Skye Bioscience in August 2023. The company, led by President and CEO Paul A. Grayson, concentrated on the development of therapeutic antibodies aimed at immuno-inflammatory diseases. Grayson brought extensive experience to the role, having previously served as CEO of Fate Therapeutics and as a managing director at Sanderling Ventures. His background includes founding roles at several biotech companies, including Senomyx and Fate Therapeutics.

Bird Rock Bio's core business revolved around identifying and advancing biologic therapeutics. The company's strategy was to leverage biological targets that had significant human proof-of-mechanism to create differentiated molecules for clinical development. A key asset in this endeavor was its proprietary iCAPS platform, a technology designed to isolate and present functional G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in their correct conformation to facilitate the discovery of selective antibody allosteric modulators.

The company's pipeline included two main antibody candidates. The first, gerilimzumab, was a novel anti-IL-6 antibody intended for treating inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Clinical studies indicated a favorable pharmacokinetic profile, suggesting that low and infrequent dosing might be possible. The second key asset, namacizumab (also known as nimacimab), was a negative allosteric modulating antibody targeting the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor. This therapeutic candidate was developed to address fibrotic and metabolic diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and diabetic nephropathy. In January 2017, Bird Rock Bio entered into a significant collaboration and option agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to fund the Phase 1 clinical trial of namacizumab, with Janssen gaining an exclusive option to acquire the company upon completion of the trial.

On August 18, 2023, Skye Bioscience acquired Bird Rock Bio for a total consideration of approximately $20 million, paid in Skye's common stock. The acquisition combined Bird Rock's lead asset, nimacimab, with Skye's portfolio, aiming to advance drug products targeting the CB1 receptor for conditions like glaucoma and chronic kidney disease. Following the acquisition, Paul Grayson joined Skye Bioscience's board and was later appointed Chairman.