CombiGene strikes deal with Spark Therapeutics
CombiGene has entered into an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement with Spark Therapeutics regarding CG01, CombiGene’s gene therapy developed for the treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy. Under the terms of the agreement, CombiGene is eligible to receive up to 328.5 million USD excluding royalties, with 8.5 million USD upon signing, as well as up to 50 million USD at several preclinical and clinical milestones.
Biotech company CombiGene’s drug candidate CG01 is being developed to treat drug-resistant focal epilepsy, the most common form of epilepsy in adult epileptics. CombiGene’s ambition is that CG01 will become the world’s first curative treatment, compared to current treatments that only treat the symptoms.
CG01 targets a broad patient population that includes a yearly addition of approximately 47,000 drug-resistant focal epilepsy patients in the US, EU4, UK, Japan and China. The development of CG01 is in a late preclinical stage with the aim that clinical studies can be started next year. The company’s production platform, developed together with its partners Cobra Biologics and Viralgen, is scalable up to full commercial production.
The deal with Spark Therapeutics
Today, October 12, CombiGene announced that the company has entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Spark Therapeutics regarding CG01. Spark is one of the world’s largest gene therapy companies and is an independent subsidiary of Roche, the world’s third largest pharmaceutical company.
The agreement provides Spark with the exclusive world-wide license to develop, manufacture and commercialise CG01. CombiGene will continue to execute certain aspects of the preclinical program in collaboration with Spark. Under the terms of agreement, CombiGene is eligible to receive up to 328.5 million USD excluding royalties, with 8.5 million USD upon signing, up to 50 million USD at preclinical and clinical milestones. CombiGene will also be reimbursed for certain authorised R&D expenses. Upon commercialisation, CombiGene is eligible for tiered royalties ranging from the mid-single digits up to low double-digits percentages based on net sales.
»Spark is constantly evaluating new opportunities to challenge the status quo when it comes to the treatment of diseases with unmet needs, and collaboration is a critical part of our strategy. We were impressed by CombiGene’s gene therapy platform and look forward to harnessing our collective expertise to tackle diseases that affect signaling in the central nervous system« – Joseph La Barge, Chief Business Officer, Spark Therapeutics
»Our epilepsy project CG01 has continued to show strength throughout the preclinical phase, and in Spark we have now found a perfect partner to take CG01 through the clinical phase to full commercialisation. CombiGene and Spark have had a productive ongoing dialogue during the latter parts of CG01’s preclinical development, and the entire CombiGene team have come to know Spark as a visionary and patient-focused organisation with the strength, know-how, and experience to exploit the full potential of CG01. We look forward to advancing this potentially transformative therapy together with Spark for the benefit of a patient group in need of better treatments« – Jan Nilsson, vd CombiGene
The announcement was received positively by the market which, at the time of publication of this article, traded up the company’s share by over 100 percent compared to yesterday’s closing price.
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