London's Axovant Sciences Ltd. licensed the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and sell Oxford BioMedica PLC's AXO-Lenti-PD, an experimental gene therapy for Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting dopamine-producing neurons in an area of the brain. AXO-Lenti-PD, formerly known as OXB-102, works by delivering three genes that encode a set of enzymes required for creating dopamine in the brain.
Under the deal, Axovant will receive rights to AXO-Lenti-PD, as well as its predecessor ProSavin, for an initial payment of $30 million in cash.
U.K.'s Oxford BioMedica is also eligible to receive over $812 million in milestone payments, plus royalties on the sales of the therapy once it is commercialized.
Roivant Sciences Ltd., Axovant's parent company, also agreed to buy $25 million of Axovant's common shares to support developing AXO-Lenti-PD.
Meanwhile, Axovant also appointed Fraser Wright chief technology officer for the company's gene therapy programs.
Wright is the co-founder and former chief technology officer of Spark Therapeutics Inc., where he oversaw the development of Luxturna, a gene therapy that is approved in the U.S. for inherited retinal disease.
