Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Greenburgh on Monday announced the company”™s new collaboration with Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc. to discover, develop and commercialize drugs that use DNA to treat serious eye diseases.
The collaboration covers novel gene therapy vectors and proprietary molecules discovered jointly by Regeneron and Avalanche, an 8-year-old, privately held biotech company in Menlo Park, Calif. They were developed with Avalanche”™s trademarked platform technology, which uses adeno-associated viruses to discover and develop gene therapy approaches for ophthalmology.
The companies in a joint announcement said Avalanche will receive an upfront cash payment, contingent payments of up to $640 million when reaching certain development and regulatory milestones and a royalty on worldwide net sales of collaboration products.
Regeneron will have exclusive worldwide rights for all drugs developed for up to eight distinct therapeutic targets in the collaboration. Avalanche can opt to share in development costs and profits for drugs directed at two of those targets, which will be selected by the California company.
Regeneron also has a time-limited right of first negotiation for certain rights to an Avalanche gene therapy drug currently in clinical trials for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. Regeneron”™s Eylea product is used in the treatment of that eye disease.
“We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Avalanche, a leader in the field of next-generation gene therapy technologies,” Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, Regeneron”™s chief scientific officer and president of Regeneron Laboratories, said in a statement. “This collaboration highlights the commitment by Regeneron to invest in potentially breakthrough therapies that could benefit patients with sight-threatening diseases.”
Thomas W. Chalberg, co-founder and CEO of Avalanche Biotechnologies, said the goal of the collaboration is to create “a new class of next-generation biologics in ophthalmology” by combining Avalanche’s novel platform technology with Regeneron’s proprietary molecules and research capabilities. “Regeneron is a terrific partner for their scientific leadership, as well as their product development capabilities and commercialization track-record,” he said.
