Seal Rock Therapeutics, Inc., a US-based clinical stage company, announced on Wednesday that it has signed an out-licensing agreement with GENFIT (Nasdaq:GNFT) (Euronext:GNFT), a France-based biopharmaceutical group, for the development of an injectable formulation of SRT-015 intended for the treatment of acute liver disease, including Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF).

According to the contract, Seal Rock Therapeutics is eligible for payments up to EUR100m including regulatory, clinical, and commercial milestone payments and tiered royalties.

SRT-015 is a highly optimised, second generation, liver-selective inhibitor of Apoptosis Signal-reducing Kinase 1 (ASK1) and is being developed by Seal Rock Therapeutics, in an oral formulation, as a treatment for severe acute alcoholic hepatitis and orphan liver diseases and NASH.

Neil McDonnell, Seal Rock Therapeutics CEO, said, 'We're excited to announce this licensing deal with GENFIT that will accelerate the development of an injectable formulation of our second-generation ASK1 inhibitor SRT-015 for ACLF, a liver disease with high unmet need. At Seal Rock, we remain focused on initiating a Phase 2a trial of oral SRT-015 for severe alcoholic hepatitis. We will also continue development of our first-in-class LRRK2/ASK1 dual kinase inhibitors for Parkinson's Disease and ALS.'