Astellas In Deal With Sangamo For STAC-BBB Capsid To Deliver Genomic Medicines

(RTTNews) - Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY) Thursday said it has signed an agreement with Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (SGMO) to leverage Sangamo's proprietary neurotropic adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid, STAC-BBB, to deliver genomic medicines to treat certain neurological diseases.

Astellas gets a worldwide exclusive license to utilize the STAC-BBB capsid for one target, with the right to add up to four additional targets after paying additional fees.

As per the deal, Sangamo will receive an upfront payment of $20 million, with earnout payments of up to $1.3 billion, as well as mid-to-high single digit royalties on potential net sales of the five potential disease targets.