Roivant Launches Altavant Sciences, a New Company Developing PAH Therapy RVT-1201

Roivant recently announced the launch of two new business units, Roivant Pharma and Roivant Health, as well as the creation of Altavant Sciences, a company that will focus on developing new therapies, including RVT-1201 as a potential treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

As part of its long-term strategy, Roivant — a biopharmaceutical company aiming to reduce the time and cost of drug development — has undergone a staff reorganization that included a 10 percent reduction in its workforce to support its efforts to create new healthcare companies based on earlier-stage research.

Altavant Sciences, Roivant’s new biopharmaceutical company, will be applying Roivant’s tested drug development strategies to explore investigational treatments spanning multiple therapeutic areas.

Under the leadership of CEO William T. Symonds, one of the first therapies Altavant will work on developing is RVT-1201, a potential treatment for PAH.

“The standard of care for PAH remains insufficient,” Symonds said in a press release. “I look forward to directing the newest member of the Roivant family as we develop RVT-1201 in a thoughtful, rigorous, and efficient manner that draws on best practices developed at Roivant in areas including patient engagement, the use of technology in trials, and the analysis of clinical trial results.”

Roivant Pharma, which will be led by president Mayukh Sukhatme, MD, is charged with the creation of biopharmaceutical companies in new therapeutic areas to accelerate the development and commercialization of treatments.

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The other new business unit, Roivant Health, will focus on the launch of companies that bring new medicines to emerging markets and improve the process of drug development and commercialization through the use of technology. Benjamin Zimmer will serve as its president.

“I am excited to elevate several of Roivant’s talented leaders to new roles that will enable them to tackle new challenges,” said Vivek Ramaswamy, Roivant’s founder and CEO. “Our goal is to deliver transformative innovation in healthcare. Going forward, we will expand the scope of our focus to include the advancement of potentially transformative assets into clinical development, even if they are at earlier stages of development than much of our pipeline to date. I look forward to providing additional updates at our first annual Pipeline Day next month.”

Roivant Pipeline Day will be held July 10 in New York City. The event will include presentations, talks, and Q&A sessions from Roivant executives. Attendance is by invitation only; however, a live webcast will be available to interested parties. For more information about the webcast or the event, email [email protected].

The Roivant family of companies currently has 25 investigational medicines in 11 different therapeutic areas being tested in more than 50 clinical trials, according to the company.