With biotech uniQure focused on reducing its expenses and CDMO Genezen zeroed in on growth, the two gene therapy specialists have made a timely deal.
UniQure has sold its commercial viral vector manufacturing facility in Lexington, Massachusetts, to Genezen, which will now supply uniQure’s clinical portfolio and produce CSL Behring-partnered hemophilia B gene therapy Hemgenix from the site.
In an SEC filing, uniQure said (PDF) that it will receive $25 million from Genezen in preferred stock and a convertible note, allowing uniQure to pay off a $50 million loan debt. Helping Genezen fund the agreement is Ampersand Capital Partners.
Genezen will offer employment to a “majority” of the uniQure employees at the Lexington site. Additionally, uniQure’s CEO Matt Kapusta will join Genezen’s board of directors when the deal is complete, which the companies expect to happen in the third quarter.
The Lexington site will become Genezen’s “AAV center of excellence, complementing its existing operations in Indianapolis,” the manufacturer said in a release.
“This acquisition significantly enhances Genezen's scale and differentiated capabilities, directly aligned with our mission to advance cell and gene therapies by providing top-tier, science-driven development and manufacturing solutions,” Genezen CEO Steve Favaloro said.
When Favaloro took charge in March of last year, his mission was to grow Genezen to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demand for viral vector products. The decade-old company, formerly known as Genezen Laboratories, started as a small lab before completing its 86,000-square-foot plant in the suburbs of Indianapolis in September of 2022.
UniQure, meanwhile, has been in a cost-cutting mode. In October of last year, it reduced its headcount by 20%, letting go of 114 employees, and axing half of its R&D projects. At the same time, the company kept its operations intact in manufacturing Hemgenix for its partner CSL.
In reporting $8.5 million in revenue for the first quarter, uniQure said that its cash equivalents and investment securities had shrunk from $618 million to $556 million during the period, leaving it a runway to continue operations through the second quarter of 2027.
UniQure’s primary focus is on initiating three trials for its Huntington’s disease gene therapy candidate AMT-130.
"We view the strategic restructuring as an incremental positive as it will reduce the company's cash burn and allow the repayment of some outstanding debt, reducing the company's financial overhang," William Blair analyst Sami Corwin, Ph.D., wrote in a note to clients.
“UniQure has been a pioneer in gene therapy manufacturing for the past 15 years, and we are pleased to have found a partner in Genezen to take the facility and team into its next phase of growth,” Kapusta said in the release.
Twelve years ago, uniQure became the first company to gain approval for a gene therapy for a rare pancreatic condition when it scored one in Europe for Glybera. But five years later, uniQure let its marketing authorization lapse after failing to have success in commercializing the $1 million-plus treatment.