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Agreements

Date: 2021-02-11

Type of information: Licensing agreement

Compound:

Company: Ensoma (USA - MA) Takeda (Japan)

Therapeutic area: Rare diseases

Type agreement: licensing

Action mechanism:

Disease: five undisclosed rare diseases

Details: • On February 11, 2021, Ensoma, a company that formally launched on the same day with the mission of expanding the curative power of genomic medicine by pioneering a next-generation in vivo approach, announced it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Takeda. The agreement grants Takeda an exclusive worldwide license to Ensoma’s Engenious™ vectors for up to five rare disease indications. Ensoma’s Engenious vectors are designed to deliver a diverse range of gene modification technologies – including those that require a high level of packaging capacity – directly to hematopoietic stem cells or the various cell types that arise from these cells, such as T cells, B cells and myeloid cells, without the need for stem cell collection or prior myeloablative conditioning (e.g., chemotherapy). As a result, Ensoma’s therapies can be delivered “off-the-shelf” in settings including doctors’ offices and mobile clinics. “The Ensoma platform offers distinct advantages over AAV and ex vivo lentiviral gene therapy approaches with the potential to overcome some of the challenges associated with first-generation technologies,” said Takeda Rare Diseases Drug Discovery Unit Head Madhu Natarajan. “Takeda continues to make focused investments in differentiated, next-generation gene therapy platforms through our network of innovative collaborators with the collective goal to deliver transformative therapies and functional cures for patients living with rare diseases.”  

Financial terms: Takeda will make an equity investment of $10 million in Ensoma’s Series A Preferred Stock with the potential for $100 million in upfront and preclinical research payments. In total, assuming success for five programs, Ensoma is eligible to receive up to $1.25 billion from Takeda, including additional development and commercialization milestone payments and up to low double-digit royalties on net sales of each product. Under the terms of the collaboration, Takeda is granted an exclusive worldwide license to Ensoma’s Engenious vector technology platform for up to five rare genetic disease indications.   Ensoma will conduct preclinical research activities for the Takeda programs, and both parties will share in responsibilities leading to submission of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications. Takeda will lead development activities thereafter.

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