Actimed gets back rights to wasting disease drug, ending $126M deal with Faraday

Biotech Actimed gets back rights to wasting disease drug, ending $126M deal with Faraday By James Waldron Aug 6, 2026 8:20am Actimed Therapeutics Licensing deals cachexia Deals Actimed Therapeutics has brought the full rights to its wasting disease drug back in house, securing “strategic control” over the asset but losing out on a shot at over $120 million in biobucks. The U.K.-based biotech sold part of the rights for S-oxprenolol—an anabolic-catabolic transforming agent (ACTA)—to Seattle’s Faraday Pharmaceuticals for $550,000 upfront back in 2021. That deal came with the potential for $126.2 million in milestone payments, and gave Faraday the opportunity to develop S-oxprenolol for cancer cachexia and any other indications outside of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Since then, Actimed has pointed to preclinical data suggesting that S-oxprenolol could have “significant beneficial effects on survival, body mass and functional parameters” in patients with ALS. On Thursday, Actimed said it has negotiated a return of all of the S-oxprenolol rights from Faraday, following which Actimed will hold full development, manufacturing and commercialization rights worldwide. This transition “will allow Actimed to have full strategic control over S-oxprenolol and maximise the value of this asset across all potential indications in the future,” the London-based biotech explained.

“We believe S-oxprenolol could have a potential role to play in treating muscle wasting and cachexia associated with ALS, which remains our prime focus with this asset,” Actimed CEO Robin Bhattacherjee said in the Aug. 6 release. “S-oxprenolol has obtained orphan drug designation for this indication and we plan to initiate a clinical development programme once CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls) work for S-oxprenolol is completed,” Bhattacherjee added.

“Actimed is also evaluating the full potential of S-oxprenolol in other muscle wasting disorders, and this transaction enhances our strategic flexibility and opportunities around this asset.” Actimed’s pipeline is led by another anabolic-catabolic drug called S-pindolol benzoate, which is undergoing clinical trials for both cachexia in patients with non-small cell lung or colorectal cancer, as well as its effects on lean mass in obese patients receiving Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Actimed Therapeutics Licensing deals cachexia Deals Biotech