Astellas pays $50M for option on AviadoBio's dementia gene therapy

Astellas has turned to AviadoBio to further boost its gene therapy pipeline, paying the British biotech $50 million in equity and upfront cash for a dementia candidate in phase 1.

The asset in question, dubbed AVB-101, is a one-dose AAV-based gene therapy that AviadoBio has been evaluating in a phase 1/2 trial for patients with frontotemporal dementia with progranulin mutations (FTD-GRN).

In order to secure the option for an exclusive worldwide license for the therapy, Astellas is making a $20 million equity investment in AviadoBio as well as up to $30 million in upfront payments. The London-based biotech could also be in line for up to $2.18 billion in license fees and milestone payments, on top of royalities, should the Japanese pharma follow through on its interest in the drug.

AviadoBio was founded in 2019 out of the King’s College London lab of Professor Chris Shaw, who had been working on a way to inject microdoses of its therapies directly into the brain substance. Shaw currently serves as chief scientific and clinical adviser of AviadoBio.

“As we complete dosing of the first cohort of patients in our phase 1/2 ASPIRE-FTD trial of AVB-101, we are excited about the potential of this collaboration to help address the unmet need that exists today in frontotemporal dementia,” AviadoBio CEO Lisa Deschamps said in the release.

“This strategic collaboration will combine our promising gene therapy candidate for FTD-GRN and delivery expertise with Astellas’ global capabilities in development and commercialization of gene therapies,” Deschamps added. “Together, we can further accelerate delivering this investigational medicine to families around the world who so desperately need treatment options for FTD-GRN and other neurological diseases.”

Astellas Chief Strategy Officer Adam Pearson placed today’s deal in the context of the pharma’s efforts to expand its gene therapy pipeline further into neurodegenerative disease.

“AVB-101 represents a truly innovative approach to the treatment of FTD-GRN and has the potential to be part of the next generation of gene therapy products through the creation of this agreement,” Pearson added in the release. “Genetic regulation remains a cornerstone of our primary focus strategy at Astellas and this agreement helps us to continue to provide potential solutions for patients in need.”

Tokyo-based Astellas formally launched its Astellas Gene Therapies unit in 2021, which operates out of both California and Japan. The past couple of years have seen the company license gene therapies from the likes of Kate Therapeutics and 4D Molecular Therapeutics while also losing $170 million on an unsuccessful Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate from Audentes Therapeutics.