Astellas walks away from $350M deal with Cartesian post-merger
14 Mar 2024
Gene TherapyLicense out/in
Astellas has terminated a licensing pact worth up to $350 million for Cartesian Therapeutics' IgG protease candidate Xork, just over a year after the deal was first announced, the autoimmune disease biotech disclosed Thursday in a US securities filing.
The collaboration, inked with Selecta Biosciences in January 2023 prior to its merger with Cartesian, centred on developing Xork with Astellas' experimental adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene replacement therapy AT845. The gene therapy, also known as zocaglusagene nuzaparvovec, is currently in early-stage testing for late-onset Pompe disease after the FDA lifted a clinical hold on the treatment last year.
The deal gave Astellas exclusive rights to pair Xork with AT845 as a potential pre-treatment to help patients who couldn't receive AAV gene therapies due to pre-existing antibodies against AAV capsids. Astellas paid $10 million upfront and committed up to $340 million more in milestones, plus tiered royalties ranging from low- to high-single digits on commercial sales where Xork is used with AT845.
At the time the deal was announced, Selecta CEO Carsten Brunn suggested that Xork differed from most other IgG proteases in development "by its low cross-reactivity to pre-existing antibodies in human serum."
However, Selecta ran into business difficulties, announcing in May that it would lay off a quarter of its staff following a review of its portfolio and capital resources. It eventually suspended most of its pipeline to focus on a gout drug. Selecta merged with Cartesian in November with a focus on RNA cell therapies to treat autoimmune disease.
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