Agreement drives further testing of Aevitas’ AAV gene therapy technology in animal models of complement-mediated diseases
Fortress Biotech, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to acquiring, developing and commercializing novel pharmaceutical and biotechnology products, today announced that its subsidiary, Aevitas Therapeutics, Inc., has entered into a sponsored research agreement with the laboratory of Wenchao Song, Ph.D., a professor of Pharmacology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to evaluate Aevitas’ adeno-associated virus gene therapy technology in Dr. Song’s animal models of complement-mediated diseases.
The SRA will explore dosing and attempt to further establish that the gene therapy is restoring lasting production of proteins that regulate the alternative pathway in the complement system, an interactive multimolecular system composed of proteins and cell membrane receptors that support immune system function. Irregularities in these proteins can cause immune-dysregulation and may play a role in numerous complement-mediated diseases, including atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and age-related macular degeneration.
Lindsay A. Rosenwald, M.D., Fortress Biotech’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Further validation of Aevitas’ AAV gene therapy in animal models of complement-mediated diseases is a key step in advancing meaningful therapies toward the clinic, and follows vector construct optimization conducted by our collaborator, AAV gene therapy expert, Dr. Guangping Gao at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. We look forward to working with Dr. Song, a world-renowned leader in the pathogenesis of complement-mediated diseases, to advance gene therapies with the potential to provide long-term benefit to patients in need.”
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Date: August 7, 2018
Source: Nasdaq