Sangamo enters license agreement with Genentech

Sangamo (SGMO) announced it has entered into a license agreement with Genentech, a member of Roche (RHHBY), to develop intravenously administered genomic medicines to treat certain neurodegenerative diseases. Sangamo has granted Genentech an exclusive license to Sangamo’s proprietary zinc finger repressors that are directed to the tau gene, which is critically involved in Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies, as well as an undisclosed second neurology target. Sangamo has also agreed to exclusively license to Genentech, for tau and the second neurology target, Sangamo’s proprietary, neurotropic adeno-associated virus, or AAV, capsid, STAC-BBB, which has demonstrated potent blood-brain barrier penetration and brain transduction in nonhuman primates. Under the terms of the agreement, Sangamo is responsible for completing a technology transfer and certain preclinical activities, and Genentech is responsible for all clinical development, regulatory interactions, manufacturing and global commercialization. Genentech is expected to pay Sangamo $50M in near-term upfront license fees and milestone payments. Sangamo is eligible to earn up to $1.9B in development and commercial milestones spread across multiple potential products under the agreement and tiered royalties on net sales of such products, subject to certain specified reductions. Sangamo continues to engage in business development discussions with additional potential collaboration partners about the Sangamo STAC-BBB capsid delivery platform, its epigenetic regulation capabilities, and other assets, including Fabry disease.