A $1.6 billion promise to families waiting on a cure for rare kidney and liver disease

CSL, Australia's biggest biotech company, is teaming up with a Swiss company called Alentis to develop a new medicine, lixudebart, for rare diseases of the kidney and liver. CSL is putting $355 million down upfront, and the deal could reach up to $1.6 billion if the medicine succeeds. The drug is already being tested in people with a rare immune condition that can destroy the kidneys, and the two companies also plan to try it for a chronic liver disease that has no approved treatment at all. The US regulator has already granted it a special 'orphan drug' status, which gives medicines for rare conditions a faster path forward.