Sanofi’s gene therapy pipeline is not as deep as some of its industry peers. The company has been adjusting its plans in the past year, trying to find the right combination. The French-based pharmaceutical giant has discovered a possible new product. A transaction allows it to acquire equity in a clinical stage company and the opportunity to obtain a major therapeutic candidate for the gene therapy developer.
According to the terms announced on Monday, Sanofi is Pledged up to 60 million U.S. dollars To Gyroscope Therapeutics, it is now broken down to 40 million US dollars, and the rest will be in a future round of investment. At the same time, the UK-based biotechnology company has received additional funding for the clinical development of GT005, which is being developed to treat patients with genetic variants that cause vision loss.
The initial focus of the gyroscope is the “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration, in which the macula, which is part of the retina, deteriorates. Dry AMD can progress to geographic atrophy, which is characterized by loss of central vision. The gyroscope pointed out that studies have shown that this disease is related to the activity of the complement system, which is part of the immune system. The company’s gene therapy drug candidates aim to increase the production of a protein that regulates the complement system and restore the balance of excess complement system activity associated with the progress of geographic atrophy. The gyroscope said that this method can reduce inflammation, thereby protecting eyesight.
In the transaction announcement, Gyroscope CEO Khurem Farooq stated that his company believes that GT005 may become the first gene therapy to treat geographic shrinkage. Gyroscope gene therapy is currently in the mid-term clinical development stage.Sanofi’s investment in the company was more than a month later than the gyroscope Provide encouraging data Gene therapy at the annual scientific meeting of the Retina Association. In the span of seven months to nearly two years after the initial treatment, the gyroscope reported that the biomarker data of 13 patients continued to show increased complement system proteins compared to baseline levels.
The gyroscope also reported that downstream proteins related to the activation of the complement system continued to decrease. The patient tolerated the one-time treatment well, and no serious adverse events related to the treatment were reported. In addition, an analysis showed that the level of circulating complement system proteins in the blood did not increase, and the gyroscope indicated that this indicated that the effects of GT005 were still confined to the eyes.
Sanofi’s previous eye disease gene therapy deal has not made much progress.Last year, the pharmaceutical giant conducted a company-wide portfolio review, after which Back to Oxford Biomedicine Rights of gene therapy candidates for two rare hereditary eye diseases (Stargardt disease and Usher syndrome type 1b).Soon after, Sanofi Handed over to Atsena Therapeutics Obtained the rights to Leber’s congenital amaurosis gene therapy drug candidate in the phase 1/2 test.
Gene therapy partnerships in other therapeutic areas have also failed to bring results to Sanofi. In 2015, Sanofi began to form an alliance with Voyager Therapeutics, focusing on the development of gene therapies for neurological diseases. In 2019, The pharmaceutical giant restored the rights of navigators Huntington’s disease and Friedreich’s ataxia project.
Earlier this year, Gyroscope was preparing to join the wave of listings of biotech companies.it quit These plans were based on market conditions in May. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, Gyroscope reported a cash position of $117 million. The last time the company raised funds was in March, $148 million in financingGyroscope said on Monday that Sanofi’s investment is more expensive than its Series C financing.
In addition to providing new cash to biotech companies, Sanofi’s agreement with Gyroscope also allows the pharmaceutical giant to appoint Sanofi executives to the biotech company’s clinical advisory board to advise on the development of GT0005. In addition, the agreement gives Sanofi the exclusive right of first refusal to negotiate future transactions involving Gyroscope’s leading gene therapy in certain geographic areas. These areas are not specified.
Photo: Karen Bleier/AFP, via Getty Images
