Lacerta Therapeutics Signs Gene Therapy Research Partnership with UCB

ALACHUA, Fla., November 12, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​​​​Lacerta Therapeutics today announced a new gene therapy research collaboration with UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company. The research collaboration and licensing agreement with UCB will focus on a central nervous system (CNS) disease with a high unmet need.

“At Lacerta, we have dedicated our careers to the development of AAV gene therapy platforms and it remains our mission to advance these platforms and develop novel therapeutics for patients with neurodegenerative disorders,” said Dr. Edgardo Rodrίguez-Lebrón, President and Chairman of the Board at Lacerta. “We are looking forward to entering a new era, working in partnership with UCB. Our hope is that our combined expertise will lead to significant advances in identifying treatments for orphan CNS diseases.”

Lacerta will lead research, preclinical activities and early manufacturing process development, while UCB will complete IND-enabling studies, manufacturing and clinical development. This new collaboration will allow UCB to access Lacerta’s established expertise in AAV-based CNS targeted gene therapies, fortifying UCB’s ability to produce effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

Dhavalkumar Patel, UCB’s Chief Scientific Officer said, “We are excited to be partnering with Lacerta, and will work together to accelerate the development of novel gene therapies that will offer significant value to people living with chronic diseases. UCB’s ambition for patients relies on our ability to innovate and deliver highly differentiated medicines, and our new partnership with Lacerta will enable access to a novel gene therapy program and advanced gene therapy platforms that will enhance our R&D pipeline.”

Gene therapy is a new generation of medicine where a technique is used that modifies a person’s genes to treat or cure a disease. Gene therapies can work by several mechanisms, they can replace a gene causing a medical problem with a healthy copy of the gene, add genes that help fight against or treat disease, or turn off the disease-causing gene(s).

The research collaboration with Lacerta is expected to last 3 years, until the program enters its clinical phase. Thereafter, UCB will be solely responsible for the clinical development, and will provide Lacerta with development and regulatory milestone payments and royalties on sales.

About Lacerta

Lacerta Therapeutics, Inc (www.lacertatx.com) is a clinical-stage gene therapy company that is leveraging its proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector technology and manufacturing platforms to develop treatments for central nervous system and lysosomal storage diseases. Currently, Lacerta is focused on gene therapy solutions for Sanfilippo Syndrome Type B, Friedreich’s ataxia, Spinocerebellar ataxia, Pompe disease, and Alzheimer’s. Follow us on Twitter: @LacertaTxAAV

About UCB

UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With more than 7,600 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of € 4.9 billion in 2019. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB). Follow us on Twitter: @UCB_news.

Contact information – Lacerta Therapeutics

Christina Sarabia, E : [email protected], T : (1) 386-588-3285

Corporate Communications - UCB

Scott Fleming, E: [email protected], T: +44 (0)7702 777 378

Laurent Schots, E: [email protected], T: +32 (0)2 559 92 64

Investor Relations - UCB

Antje Witte, E: [email protected] T: +32 (0)2 559 94 14

Isabelle Ghellync, E: [email protected] T +32 (0)2 559 9588

Source: Lacerta Therapeutics