PhaseRx

About PhaseRx

PhaseRx, Inc. operated as a biopharmaceutical firm with a dedicated focus on developing treatments for rare, inherited liver diseases in children. The company was founded on March 9, 2006, by a team that included Robert W. Overell, who also served as President and CEO, alongside scientific co-founders from the University of Washington, Professors Patrick Stayton and Allan Hoffman, and Dr. Oliver Press from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, with Dr. Paul H. Johnson as Chief Scientific Officer. Overell brought extensive experience from the venture capital side of biotechnology, having been a general partner at Frazier Healthcare Ventures, and from his earlier scientific career at Immunex, where he was involved in the world's first HIV gene therapy trial.

The company's core business revolved around its proprietary SMARTT Polymer Technology® and later its Hybrid mRNA Technology™ platform. These platforms were engineered to overcome the significant challenge of delivering RNA-based therapeutics, such as siRNA and mRNA, directly into targeted cells. The primary application was an approach called intracellular enzyme replacement therapy (i-ERT), which aimed to synthesize missing enzymes inside the patient's liver cells to correct the underlying genetic defect. PhaseRx's therapeutic pipeline was concentrated on urea cycle disorders, including ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD). Its business model was twofold: developing its own portfolio of drug candidates and partnering with other pharmaceutical and biotech companies to leverage its delivery technology.

A significant milestone for PhaseRx was its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in May 2016, which raised $18.5 million. One of its leading drug candidates received Orphan Drug Status from the FDA, a designation intended to expedite the approval process for treatments of rare diseases. However, the company faced financial difficulties, falling below the Nasdaq's stockholder equity requirements. This led to a corporate restructuring in October 2017 and a bankruptcy filing in December 2017. In early 2018, Roivant Sciences agreed to acquire substantially all of PhaseRx's assets for $800,000 plus the assumption of debt, following a bankruptcy auction. This acquisition agreement was later cancelled in January 2019.