Blackstone Pledges $1.3 Billion to Help Develop Apogee Skin Drug

Blackstone Inc. is providing as much as $1.3 billion in financing to Apogee Therapeutics Inc. to help the biotech company advance a potential competitor to the blockbuster drug Dupixent.

The drug, zumilokibart, met its primary goal in a mid-stage trial for easing a painful condition called atopic dermatitis that causes itchy and inflamed skin, Apogee said in a statement on Wednesday. Investors have been tracking the medicine’s development, and optimism for it “may already have been baked in,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams.

Apogee shares whipsawed in premarket trading following the announcements, before opening up 1.7% at ...