Vertex Pharmaceuticals acquires Semma Therapeutics and entry into type 1 diabetes

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement under which Vertex will acquire Semma Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company pioneering the use of stem cell-derived human islets as a potentially curative treatment for type 1 diabetes, for $950 million in cash. Semma has demonstrated a differentiated approach to treat type 1 diabetes, a serious disease affecting over one million people in the United States alone. Semma has made two major scientific advances: the ability to produce large quantities of functional human pancreatic beta cells that restore insulin secretion and ameliorate hypoglycemia in animal models and a novel device that encapsulates and protects these cells from the immune system, enabling durable implantation without the need for ongoing immunosuppressive therapy.