CombiGene today announces that the company will regain the global rights for the epilepsy project CG01 from Spark Therapeutics by January 12, 2024. The collaboration agreement between CombiGene and Spark Therapeutics, which was signed in October 2021, shall be terminated because of a strategic decision by Spark Therapeutics to deprioritize the further development of CG01 in epilepsy as part of their current pipeline.
“The announcement from Spark was very unexpected and is of course a great disappointment for everybody who in various ways has worked for the success of the project. Our goal with the CG01 project has always been to develop an effective gene therapy for the treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy. I would like to thank our colleagues at Spark Therapeutics for the expertise they have brought to the epilepsy project. CombiGene will now carefully evaluate the situation that has arisen and investigate how the termination of the collaboration should be carried out. We will, of course, inform the market as soon as we have decided which path we will choose,” says CombiGene’s CEO Peter Ekolind.
The collaboration agreement signed in October 2021 gave Spark the exclusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize CG01. Under the terms of the agreement, CombiGene was entitled to receive up to USD 328.5 million excluding royalties. During the collaboration, CombiGene has also been compensated for agreed development costs.
CombiGene is not liable for any of the payments received by the company from Spark Therapeutics, totaling USD 8,5 million excluding development costs, but is also not entitled to any future milestone payments or royalties.
About Spark Therapeutics
Spark Therapeutics is a fully integrated, commercial company committed to discovering, developing, and delivering gene therapies. At Spark, a member of the Roche Group, we see the path to a world where no life is limited by disease. For more information, visit www.sparktx.com, and follow us on LinkedIn.