(Bloomberg) -- Alpine Immune Sciences Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a treatment for inflammatory kidney diseases, is weighing options including a potential sale after attracting takeover interest, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The stock gained as much as 17%. 

The Seattle-based company is working with advisers to weigh a potential transaction, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. At least one larger pharmaceutical company has spoken to the company about a potential takeover, the people said. 

Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty that Alpine Immune will decide to pursue a sale, the people said. A representative for Alpine Immune declined to comment.

Alpine rose 7.9% to $42 at 12:42 p.m. in New York trading Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $2.8 billion. The stock is up 451%% in the past year. 

Founded in 2015, Alpine Immune develops treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It’s set to present updated data on April 15 about the safety and effectiveness of its lead product, Povetacicept, in a disease that involves damage to the part of the kidneys that helps filter fluids and waste from blood.

Large drugmakers have been increasingly interested in ways to treat chronic kidney diseases. Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG last year agreed to buy another Seattle-based company, Chinook Therapeutics Inc., for as much as $3.5 billion to add two promising treatments in advanced tests for a rare kidney disease.

Alpine plans to advance Povetacicept to a pivotal trial in a chronic kidney disease known as IgA nephropathy in the second half of this year, pending regulatory approval.

Alpine Immune had $368 million of cash and investments on hand at the end of the year, which it said last month should be enough to fund its operations into 2026.

(Updates trading in first and fourth paragraphs)

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