BetterLife/Altum Merger ‘Triggered By Early COVID-19 Promise’

BetterLife’s CEO Explains Altum Acquisition Logic

11 Aug 2020

• By Sten Stovall

Created when BetterLife bought Altum at end-July, the merged entity will now focus on advancing the acquired group’s lead asset, an inhaled form of its patented interferon a2b product, as an early treatment for COVID-19.

Jigsaw — Merged group will focus on an inhaled interferon-based therapy for Covid-19 • Source: Shutterstock

Rising evidence that interferons could be used as potential treatments for COVID-19 led last month to Canada-based BetterLife Pharma Inc. acquiring Altum Pharmaceuticals Inc., giving it ownership of a small pipeline of therapeutics that includes AP-003, an inhaled interferon-based therapy that will now enter Phase II testing as an early treatment for the disease.

Momentum for the merger came from recent studies in China and the UK suggesting the therapeutic efficacy of interferon-based treatments...