Axovant Strikes Gene Therapy Manufacturing Partnership With CDMO

Axovant Gene Therapies Ltd AXGT shares were trading higher off the open Thursday after it announced a tie-up with a contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO.

What Happened

Clinical-stage gene therapy company Axovant said it signed a strategic partnership with Yposkesi, a CDMO, for preferred access and reserved capacity for cGMP graced viral vector production.

Under the agreement, Yposkesi will provide expertise in process development, technology transfer, manufacturing scale-up, quality control and quality assurance.

Yposkesi is the largest European CDMO for gene therapy and has the capability to expand manufacturing for AAV and lentiviral vector production in its 50,000-square-foot facility, according to Thursday's announcement.

Its manufacturing processes comply with both the EMA and FDA manufacturing requirements.

Why It's Important

Axovant has three pipeline gene therapy assets in clinical development: AXO-LENTI-PF for Parkinson's disease, AXO-AAV-GM1 for GM1 gangliosidosis and AXO-AA-GM2 for GM2 gangliosidosis.

Viral vectors are needed as an agent to transfer genes into the body of individuals with a faulty or missing gene.

The company said the prioritized access for manufacturing resources it has with the CDMO will support its gene therapy programs as the assets proceed through development and commercialization.

"This partnership is expected to provide Axovant with sufficient manufacturing capacity to deliver our gene therapies to patients at scale, a key component for the continued development of our gene therapy pipeline," CEO Pavan Cheruvu said in a statement. 

Axovant shares were trading higher by 1.52% at $5.66 at the time of publication Thursday. 

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