Selecta Biosciences and AskBio Announce Strategic Partnership

Selecta Biosciences (NASDAQ:SELB) and Asklepios BioPharmaceutical have announced a strategic partnership to develop targeted therapeutics for adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies.

As quoted in the press release:

This partnership will leverage the unique proprietary technology platforms of both companies with a human proof of concept trial to validate the potential for re-dosing in patients with genetic diseases.

Selecta is the first company with preclinical evidence to support the potential for re-dosing patients receiving gene therapy.  When used in combination with AAV gene therapy vectors,  Selecta’s ImmTOR™ inhibits the immune response to the vector (Nature Communications, October 2018). Currently the ability to re-administer systemic AAV gene therapy is limited by the development of neutralizing antibodies. The ability to safely re-dose AAV should help achieve therapeutic benefit in patients who are under-dosed; it should also help restore transgene expression in patients, particularly growing pediatric patients, who may lose expression over time.  In addition, integrating ImmTOR into a gene therapy protocol provides a first dose benefit by enhancing liver-directed transgene expression in preclinical models.

“We are very excited to partner with AskBio, as they are proven leaders in next-generation gene therapy development and scaled manufacturing,” said Carsten Brunn, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Selecta. “We expect that Selecta’s ImmTOR technology, in combination with AskBio’s AAV technology and clinical leadership, will allow us to rapidly advance a portfolio of new combination therapies through proof of concept and into the clinic. We look forward to working together as we aim to bring targeted therapeutics into clinical development that can offer patients a new treatment paradigm in areas of high unmet need.”

Click here to read the full press release.