UCB Acquires Belgian Gene Therapy Firm Handl
Also Inks Deal With Lacerta
Executive Summary
The Brussels-based company has leant on its local knowledge to snap up Leuven-headquartered biotech Handl and its proprietary AAV capsid technology platform.
UCB S.A.’s ambitions to be a key player in gene therapy have advanced with the acquisition of fellow Belgian firm Handl Therapeutics and an R&D collaboration with Lacerta Therapeutics Inc of the US.
Handl, which is based in Leuven and was only founded in October 2019, comes with two preclinical research programs and a proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid technology platform. It has built what UCB called "a strong international network to access global capabilities and expertise," which includes the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the Center for Applied Medical Research of the University of Navarra, Spain, the Biomedical Neuroscience Institute of the University of Chile and King’s College London, UK, which operates "in a highly collaborative manner."
The deal comes just a week after Handl signed a deal with another Belgian company, Novasep Holding SAS, which will develop and manufacture AAV vectors for a gene therapy candidate for neurodegenerative diseases. UCB has not disclosed the financial terms of the Handl purchase, simply stating that it will not impact its financial outlook for 2020.
In addition to the Handl acquisition, UCB is to collaborate with Lacerta, another new firm that it is developing AAV-based therapies. Founded in 2017 as a spin-off from the University of Florida, Lacerta's agreement with UCB will focus on a central nervous system disease "with a high unmet need," with the US biotech leading preclinical activities and early manufacturing process work before UCB takes over development.
Dhaval Patel, UCB’s chief scientific officer, said the acquisition of Handl and the partnership with Lacerta "offer us the potential to drive a fundamental change in how diseases are treated, by moving us from treating symptoms to disease modification and eventually towards a cure.” He added, “We are delighted to be able to welcome a rich diversity of talent and expertise from both."
The deals build upon UCB's acquisition of Element Genomics Inc., a spin-off from Duke University, in April 2018. That buy, which included upfront and short-term success-based milestone payments of up to $30m gave UCB access to a suite of technologies that could improve understanding of genome structure and function, such as CRISPR editing.
At the time the pact was signed, Patel said Element's researchers had "a stellar reputation and their scientific expertise in genomics and epigenomics will complement UCB’s, allowing us to deepen our understanding of disease mechanisms with the aim of developing targeted therapies."
UCB's venture capital arm is also an investor in two other AAV-based gene therapy developers – StrideBio, Inc. and Harvard spin-out Ally Therapeutics.
The Handl buy is UCB's third acquisition this year. In April, the firm completed its $2.1b purchase of Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to get access to the potential blockbuster zilucoplan for the neuromuscular condition myasthenia gravis and other rare diseases. (Also see "UCB To Buy Ra for $2.1bn And Plays Down Antitrust Fears" - Scrip, 10 Oct, 2019.)
In June, UCB snapped up Engage Therapeutics of the US for an upfront payment of $125m, boosting its already strong presence in the epilepsy space. That deal centered around Staccato alprazolam, a drug-device combination that uses a technology approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to deliver alprazolam, an established benzodiazepine that has potent anti-epileptic properties and is best known as the active ingredient in the anxiety and panic medication Xanax. (Also see "UCB Acquires Engage To Boost Epilepsy Franchise" - Scrip, 5 Jun, 2020.)