CGT Catapult believes that the partnership would help bring the gene therapy to patients suffering from hard to treat epilepsy.
CombiGene CEO Jan Nilsson said: “CGT Catapult is highly renowned for its cutting-edge competence and state-of-the-art infrastructure for advanced therapeutic medicinal products.
“We evaluated several potential collaborators, and we could not have chosen a better partner.”
According to CGT Catapult, CombiGene is developing a new therapy that can potentially make the quality of life dramatically better in a group of epilepsy patients who currently do not have any effective treatment.
CombiGene’s platform uses gene therapy vectors to release a combination of neuropeptide y (NPY) and NPY receptors into brain cells. In a series of preclinical studies, this combination has been shown to hinder epileptic seizures.
Last year, a preclinical proof-of-concept-study proved that CG01 could bring down the frequency of epileptic seizures in animals. CombiGene expects to present the final data from the study during the first quarter of this year.
In a human expression study, initial data revealed that the therapeutic genes encoded by CG01 are expressed in epileptic human tissue. As a result, CombiGene could prove that this method of administering genes encoded by CG01 is successful in human tissue.
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult CEO Keith Thompson said: “We are delighted to be working with CombiGene to accelerate the commercialisation of an important gene therapy to treat an unmet medical need.
“It is testament to our international reputation and the capabilities that we offer that we continue to be the development partner of choice for innovative cell and gene companies.”
Image: CombiGene is developing a new gene therapy for hard to treat epilepsy. Photo: courtesy of Toeytoey/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.