Roivant Sciences announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Eisai Co., Ltd. for exclusive global rights to the investigational agent RVT-2001 (also known as H3B-8800), which will provide the lead program for a new subsidiary Vant. RVT-2001 is an orally available small molecule modulator of splicing factor 3B subunit 1 (SF3B1) with over 80 human subjects exposed to date. Under the terms of the agreement, Eisai will receive an upfront payment, development and regulatory milestone payments, and royalties on sales revenue for RVT-2001.

Roivant plans to develop RVT-2001 as a first-in-class therapy for transfusion-dependent anemia in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The company intends to conduct a robust open-label expansion of an ongoing clinical trial for RVT-2001 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02841540) this year.