Merger with Aravive Biologics, Inc.
Versartis is an endocrine-focused biopharmaceutical company initially developing its novel long-acting recombinant human growth hormone, Somavaratan (VRS-317), for growth hormone deficiency, or GHD, an orphan disease. A key limitation to current recombinant human growth hormone, or rhGH, products is that they impose the burden of daily injections over multiple years, often resulting in poor compliance, which in turn can lead to suboptimal treatment outcomes in GHD patients. Despite this limitation, global annual sales from marketed rhGH products were over $3 billion in 2015. Somavaratan is intended to reduce the burden of daily treatment by requiring significantly fewer injections, potentially improving compliance and, therefore, treatment outcomes. The Company’s first targeted indication for Somavaratan is pediatric GHD, which represents an approximately $1.5 billion existing market opportunity