This groundbreaking partnership signifies a monumental leap forward in the pursuit of innovative and curative treatments for a range of ocular diseases.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical has embarked on an ambitious, multi-target partnership with ShapeTX, focusing on the development of cutting-edge adeno-associated viruses (AAV) gene therapies tailored to combat ocular diseases.
The core emphasis will be on the advancement of intravitreally administered AAVs, a significant stride in the field of gene therapy.
This strategic venture amalgamates ShapeTX’s AAVid capsid discovery platform and transgene engineering technology with Otsuka’s proficiency in genetic payload design and ophthalmology.
As a testament to the potential of this collaboration, Otsuka will initiate the partnership with an undisclosed upfront payment to ShapeTX. In addition, Otsuka has committed to substantial developmental, regulatory, and sales-related milestone payments, which collectively exceed $1.5 billion.
Moreover, ShapeTX stands to gain tiered royalty payments based on the future sales performance of the products developed through this collaboration.
ShapeTX boasts an AI-powered AAVid platform, which leverages high-throughput screening of numerous AAV variants and employs machine learning to identify novel AAV capsids. This innovative approach directly enhances clinical translation through in vivo selection in non-human primates (NHP).
Additionally, ShapeTX will deploy its transgene engineering technology to optimize Otsuka’s payloads, ensuring optimal therapeutic gene expression levels in specific cell types.
The collaboration also encompasses the potential for the inclusion of other targets and tissue types in future endeavors.
Toshiki Sudo, Executive Director and Head of the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Osaka Research Center for Drug Discovery, remarked, “Our recent research activities have led to the identification of target molecules and antibodies for specific ocular diseases of interest with high unmet medical needs.”
Sudo continued, “Our collaboration with ShapeTX aims to enable the delivery of vectorized antibody drugs in combination with AAV, in order to target specific disease cell types in the eye and provide a once-in-a-lifetime and curative administration with stable lifetime expression. This holds the potential to become dramatically beneficial to patients who have suffered from specific chronic ocular diseases.”
This groundbreaking partnership signifies a monumental leap forward in the pursuit of innovative and curative treatments for a range of ocular diseases. With the combined expertise and technological prowess of Otsuka and ShapeTX, the collaboration holds the promise of transforming the landscape of ocular therapy.