Roche has inked a new deal with Dyno Therapeutics to develop next-generation AAV capsids for gene therapies targeting neurological diseases, expanding the scope of an existing partnership that started in 2020.
The Swiss drugmaker will pay $50 million upfront with more than $1 billion in potential milestones and royalties, according to a Thursday release. Dyno will lead design and discovery work for the capsids, with Roche set to take on capsid validation studies as well as further preclinical and clinical development. The companies did not specify which neurological conditions would be studied.
The Watertown, MA-based biotech first teamed up with Roche four years ago to develop new vectors for gene therapies for CNS diseases and liver-directed treatments. That deal featured an undisclosed upfront payment and was worth up to $1.8 billion in milestones. The latest agreement gives Roche more access to Dyno’s platform and sequence design technologies.
Dyno designs its capsids with a platform called CapsidMap, which makes use of DNA libraries as well as screening and AI technology. The platform is meant to make gene therapies more effective and produce capsids that can target specific organs and tissues.
The biotech also has partnerships with Astellas, Sarepta Therapeutics and Novartis. As for Roche, neurology is one of three “shared priority” areas it is focusing on for R&D work.
On an earnings call with the media on Wednesday, Roche pharma head Teresa Graham said the company “is very interested in neuroscience as a therapeutic area and in a number of different diseases.” The drugmaker’s current key neurology assets include the Phase 3 BTK inhibitor fenebrutinib for multiple sclerosis and the Phase 2 antibody trontinemab for Alzheimer’s.