Pfizer partners again in gene therapy
Pfizer will pay up to $636 million to win the rights to gene therapies being developed by French biotech Vivet Therapeutics. This follows similar deals it struck with Spark Therapeutics — before Roche bought Spark — for its hemophilia A treatment and with Sangamo Therapeutics for its hemophilia B therapy.
While Pfizer invests, Novartis and Biogen have, like Roche, gone the acquisition route, scooping up gene therapy developers AveXis and Nightstar Therapeutics. For Pfizer, the gene therapy furthest along in Vivet’s pipeline would reverse Wilson disease, a rare, inherited liver disorder that causes copper to accumulate in the body, requiring lifetime treatment and sometimes liver transplant. Vivet’s therapy, which would replace the single gene at fault, will be tested in humans starting next year.
Pfizer is also developing gene therapies in-house, including one for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which began human trials last year. Sarepta Therapeutics and Solid Biosciences are also in that mix.
While Pfizer invests, Novartis and Biogen have, like Roche, gone the acquisition route, scooping up gene therapy developers AveXis and Nightstar Therapeutics. For Pfizer, the gene therapy furthest along in Vivet’s pipeline would reverse Wilson disease, a rare, inherited liver disorder that causes copper to accumulate in the body, requiring lifetime treatment and sometimes liver transplant. Vivet’s therapy, which would replace the single gene at fault, will be tested in humans starting next year.
Pfizer is also developing gene therapies in-house, including one for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which began human trials last year. Sarepta Therapeutics and Solid Biosciences are also in that mix.
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