Sangamo to receive $20M from Astellas Pharma in capsid license agreement

Astellas Pharma (ALPMY) and Sangamo (SGMO) announced they have entered into a license agreement allowing Astellas to leverage Sangamo’s neurotropic adeno-associated virus capsid, STAC-BBB, which has demonstrated potent blood-brain barrier penetration and neuronal transduction in nonhuman primates. The agreement grants Astellas a worldwide exclusive license to utilize the STAC-BBB capsid for one target, with the right to add up to four additional targets after paying additional licensed target fees to deliver their intravenously administered genomic medicines to treat certain neurological diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Sangamo is responsible for completing a technology transfer related to the STAC-BBB capsid. Astellas is responsible for all research, preclinical and clinical development, regulatory interactions, manufacturing, and global commercialization of the resulting gene therapy products. Sangamo will receive a $20M upfront license fee from Astellas and is eligible to earn up to $1.3B in additional licensed target fees and milestone payments across the five potential neurology disease targets, as well as tiered mid-to-high single digit royalties on potential net sales of such products, subject to certain specified reductions.