Evommune (NYSE:EVMN) has licensed global development rights outside Greater China to EVO570, an experimental oral drug for inflammatory diseases, in a deal with Hinova Pharmaceuticals that includes $20 million in cash and $10 million in warrants issued at signing.
The company plans to test EVO570 first in rheumatoid arthritis, with a phase I study expected to begin in January 2027 and produce data around mid-2027. Evommune also plans to start a phase II rheumatoid arthritis program in the second half of 2027.
Deal terms and financing
Hinova is eligible for tiered royalties ranging from the mid-single digits to the low double digits on net sales, as well as development, regulatory and sales milestone payments, said Greg Moss, Evommune’s chief business and legal officer. The first milestone is a $10 million payment when a phase II study begins.
Alongside the license, Evommune raised $30 million in a private placement with specialist institutional investors. Moss said the proceeds will help fund EVO570 through phase I and into phase II in rheumatoid arthritis. Following the transaction and financing, the company expects its cash runway to extend into the second half of 2029.
Moss said the program has expected composition-of-matter intellectual property protection through 2045, with the possibility of a patent term extension. EVO570 was previously known as HC118.
Clinical plans and competitive landscape
Mark Jackson, senior vice president of clinical development, said Evommune chose rheumatoid arthritis because the disease involves both T and B cells and offers an established path for assessing a new treatment. The company also is exploring a phase I-B cohort in rheumatoid arthritis patients to provide early patient data.
The planned first-in-human phase I study will enroll 146 participants in China and is intended to support a global phase II program, Jackson said. Its primary endpoints are safety and tolerability; secondary measures include drug exposure and VAV1 degradation in T and B cells. The U.S. investigational new drug application is open, he said.
Chief Scientific Officer Jeegar Patel said Evommune tested EVO570 against Novartis’ VAV1 degrader MRT-6160 in laboratory and disease-model studies. In vitro, EVO570 degraded VAV1 at a lower concentration than MRT-6160 and achieved 99% knockdown versus 97%, Patel said. He also said EVO570 met or exceeded the comparator and standard treatments at low doses across the disease models evaluated.
Those results are preclinical. Patel noted that competitor phase II trials in psoriatic arthritis and Sjögren’s disease have begun, but no efficacy data had yet been reported.
Moss said Novartis’ MRT-6160 is the most advanced VAV1 program and that its phase II studies could produce initial top-line data as early as the fourth quarter of 2027 or first quarter of 2028. Evommune expects its own rheumatoid arthritis data in the fourth quarter of 2028, he said.
Other pipeline milestones
Peña said Evommune will continue advancing three other programs. For EVO301, the company plans to start a phase II-A ulcerative colitis trial in the first half of 2027, with data expected in 2028. A phase II-B trial in atopic dermatitis is planned for mid-2027, with data expected in the second half of 2028.
The company expects second-half 2027 top-line data from a phase II-B trial of EVO756 in migraine prevention. Phase I data for EVO646, an oral candidate being developed for autoimmune diseases, are expected in late 2027.
About Evommune (NYSE:EVMN)
Evommune, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. The company’s research is aimed at modulating dysregulated immune pathways that contribute to chronic inflammation, with the goal of developing treatments that may address significant unmet medical needs.
Evommune is advancing a pipeline of investigational small-molecule and biologic therapies for inflammatory conditions. Its development programs are focused primarily on diseases affecting the skin and other tissues, including conditions such as atopic dermatitis and related immune-mediated disorders.
