As Vertex founder Boger returns, long-simmering Alkeus draws $150M for Stargardt program

Guided by sole employee Leonide Saad for nearly a decade under intermittent mentorship from Vertex founder Joshua Boger, Alkeus has managed to generate pivotal clinical data showing a disease-slowing effect in Stargardt disease. The data have primed the company for a regulatory submission, along with $150 million in new series B funding to build a business around its lone asset.

Boger is once again taking the position of executive chairman at Alkeus Pharmaceuticals Inc., reprising a role he held in 2012-16. He told BioCentury that Saad was “doing a lot of different things extremely well” on his own, including vendor negotiations and regulatory interactions as the start-up manufactured its product and ran clinical studies...