The Life Sciences team advised Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE) on its strategic partnership and non-exclusive license and technology access agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited for Ultragenyx’s proprietary AAV-based gene therapy manufacturing technologies.
Ultragenyx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel products for serious rare and ultra-rare diseases.
Ultragenyx’s HeLa producer cell line (PCL) platform enables large commercial-scale AAV-based gene therapy product manufacturing that is intended to be highly reproducible, more consistent, and less expensive than other gene therapy manufacturing platforms. In addition, Ultragenyx has developed a proprietary HEK293 transient transfection system for AAV manufacture which is also a subject of the collaboration.
Under the license and technology access agreement, Ultragenyx granted Daiichi Sankyo a non-exclusive license to intellectual property, including know-how and patent applications, with respect to its HeLa PCL and HEK293 transient transfection manufacturing technology platforms for AAV-based gene therapy products. The parties will collaborate closely as part of a technology transfer plan to enable Daiichi Sankyo to use the technologies for its internal gene therapy programs. Ultragenyx retains the exclusive right to use its manufacturing technology for its current target indications and additional indications identified now and in the future.
Daiichi Sankyo will make an upfront payment of $125 million and will purchase $75 million of Ultragenyx common stock at a price of approximately $60 per share. Daiichi Sankyo will pay an additional $25 million upon completion of the technology transfer of the HeLa PCL and HEK293 platforms as well as single-digit royalties on net sales of products manufactured in either system.
The Goodwin team was led by Kathleen Kean, Ed Amer and Jennifer Ford, and included Gregg Katz and Rich Matheny.
For more details, read the press release and articles in Reuters and Endpoints.