Sanofi waives right to develop two gene therapies in Oxford

Oxford Biomedica said on June 8th that Sanofi plans to return the rights to two gene therapy candidates it acquired 11 years ago in partnership with the companyIt is reported that the two gene therapies are SAR422459 and SAR421869The former is used to treat Stargardt disease, a genetic macular disease that causes impaired vision in patients, and usher syndrome, also known as hereditary deafnessbut in February 2019, Sanofi is looking for a new partner for both gene therapy programsAt that time, Sanofi decided to proceed with the Phase 1/2 clinical phase proof-of-concept study of SAR422459, but would discontinue long-term clinical trials of the safety and tolerance of SAR421869 in patients with 1B Usher syndromeThe 1/2 proof-of-concept study of SAR422459 (NCT013674444), according to Clinicaltrials.gov, is now in a terminated stateThe small, open-label clinical trial, which has been under way for six years, recruited 27 patients with Stargardt macular degeneration (SMD) age and above, with the primary endpoint being the safety and tolerance of the subjects receiving an incremental dose of SAR422459; The trial lasts 52 weeks, and at the end of the study, participants will be subjected to open-label safety studies for long-term follow-up with an expected 15-year eye examination and adverse event records"The timing and exact operation of the two gene therapies have yet to be determined,"Oxford Biomedical saidAfter the rights to the two projects are returned, the company will conduct an internal assessment to determine the potential future of the projects and decide whether to allocate additional resources to continue development's shares in Oxford Biomedical are affected by the newsIn fact, the company recently gained notoriety for working with AstraZeneca to develop a COVID-19 vaccine based on adenovirus vectorsAstraZeneca has now taken over the global responsibility for the manufacture, development and distribution of AZD1222 and signed a multi-batch preliminary clinical and commercial supply agreement with Oxford Biomedical on 28 MayOxford Biomedical has announced a new five-year manufacturing agreement with the UK government-backed non-profit Group for Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation (VMIC), which will help expand THE production of AZD1222 to help meet vaccine demand in the UK and EuropeReference source: After 11 years, Sanofi kicks backs the rights to unwanted gene therapies to Oxford Biomedica