Orchard Therapeutics (“Orchard”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the lives of patients with rare disorders through innovative gene therapies announces today a strategic alliance with Généthon, to develop gene therapy for X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (“X-CGD”).
Under the terms of the agreement, Orchard has obtained an exclusive option to license Généthon’s rights and know-how related to the G1XCGD lentiviral vector, including rights to the data generated under ongoing clinical trials supported by Généthon in the US and in Europe to assess the safety and efficacy of CD34+ autologous stem cells transduced with G1XCGD for the treatment of X-CGD. The program has already received an Orphan Drug Designation in Europe where the trial has been supported by the FP7 Health program of the European Commission through the Net4CGD collaborative project As part of the agreement, YposKesi, the industrial platform for gene and cell therapy created by Généthon, AFM-Telethon and the Sociétés de Projets Industriels (“SPI”) from BPI-France (Banque Publique d’Investissement), will manufacture a number of G1XCGD lentiviral batches for Orchard.
Adrian Thrasher, Professor of Paediatric Immunology, Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in London and Donald Kohn, Professor in the Departments of Paediatrics; Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics (MIMG); and member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Centre of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, principal investigators of the ongoing trials respectively in the UK and in the US, and Orchard’s Scientific Advisory Board members commented: “We are very encouraged by the results we have seen in the first subjects of the study. For the first time, we are seeing persistence of gene-corrected neutrophils at very good therapeutic levels allowing resolution of ongoing infections but without clonal events. This is a very exciting result.”
X-linked CGD is a primary immune deficiency resulting from a mutation on the X-chromosome and affecting mainly boys. Patients suffering from this disease are susceptible to severe life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections and excessive inflammation characterized by granuloma formation in any organ, for instance, the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract. Repeated episodes of infection and inflammation severely reduce the life expectancy and quality of life of individuals.
