Biogen and ViGeneron Collaborate on Inherited Eye Disease Gene Therapy

Biogen and ViGeneron, a German gene therapy company, announced on Jan 5, 2021 that they are entering into a global collaboration and licensing agreement for the development and commercialization of gene therapy products based on adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to treat inherited eye diseases. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, ViGeneron will receive an upfront payment and R&D funding along with development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments and royalties on net commercial sales of products from the partnership, ViGeneron said in a company press release.

The collaboration will utilize ViGeneron’s novel engineered AAV capsids, vgAAV, to transduce retinal cells with intravitreal injections for an undisclosed target, the company said. Biogen will have the option to add a second reserved target within two years after the effective date.

“Gene therapy has become a clinical reality. At ViGeneron, we are dedicated to developing innovative gene therapies to treat diseases with high unmet medical need. This collaboration exemplifies our strategy to develop in-house programs for selected retinal targets, while maximizing our proprietary technology platforms with additional collaboration programs for other targets in ophthalmology and further indications,” said Dr. Caroline Man Xu, co-founder and CEO of ViGeneron, in the press release. “ViGeneron’s recognized expertise in retinal gene therapy together with Biogen’s leading research, drug development, and commercialization experience is a powerful combination that we believe will allow us to deliver more novel gene therapies to patients in need.”

Source: ViGeneron