Parkinson’s has been the missing piece of Sanofi’s pipeline since it pulled out of a gene therapy partnership a few years ago, but the pharma giant is trying again, this time with a bispecific designed to penetrate the brain. Antibody trade.Sanofi has agreed Pay $75 million Acquires global rights to ABL Bio’s preclinical assets.
Under the terms of the deal, South Korea-based ABL will lead the preclinical and phase 1 development of the drug ABL301. After that, Sanofi will take over further clinical development. If the drug receives regulatory approval, Sanofi will lead the global commercialization of the drug. The $75 million is an upfront payment. ABL could earn up to $985 million based on milestone achievement. The South Korean company will also receive royalties for Sanofi’s sales of the drug.
ABL301 targets alpha-synuclein, a brain protein. In people with Parkinson’s disease, a misfolded version of the protein leads to accumulation associated with disease progression. The ABL drug has two components: an antibody that targets and breaks down alpha-synuclein, and a protein that allows the entire molecule to cross the blood-brain barrier. According to ABL, preclinical studies have shown that the drug penetrates the brains of rodents and monkeys more efficiently than the alpha-synuclein-targeting antibody alone. This ability enables the drug to reduce aggregation of problematic proteins in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease.
Drug developers are taking various approaches to the alpha-synuclein problem, and advances in experimental therapies have led to several deals in the past year. last summer, AC Immune acquires assets from Affris, including vaccine candidate for Parkinson’s disease. Antibody drugs from Alector are currently in development GSK’s partnership with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. In September, biotech startup Vanqua Bio emerged from small molecule R&D, Treating a subset of Parkinson’s patients with a rare genetic mutation. Last month, Novartis agreed to pay UCB $150 million upfront Partner to develop two Parkinson’s drugs, a small molecule and an antibody, both designed against alpha-synuclein.
Sanofi has previously pinned its Parkinson’s hopes on Voyager Therapeutics gene therapy. In 2015, the pharma giant made an upfront payment of $100 million in a comprehensive treatment agreement covering multiple brain diseases, including Parkinson’s. Two years later, Sanofi to return rights to Parkinson’s gene therapy. In 2019, Sanofi ended its partnership with Voyager. Sanofi’s neurology pipeline currently includes programs in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.
The ABL technology that pushes antibodies across the blood-brain barrier is a platform the biotech company calls Grabody-B. The deal with Sanofi covers only its use in Parkinson’s disease.
“This pioneering collaboration with Sanofi demonstrates the enormous possibilities of ABL’s innovative bispecific antibody technology,” said ABL CEO Sang Hoon Lee in a prepared statement. “We will continue to develop our Grabody-B platform and expand its applicability in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, contributing to improving the lives of patients worldwide.”
Photo: SIphotography, Getty Images
