2seventy Bio Sells Hemophilia A Candidate, Gene Editing Technology to Novo Nordisk

Rare Daily Staff

Novo Nordisk has acquired the Hemophilia A program and rights to 2seventy Bio’s in vivo gene editing technology outside of oncology and gene editing for autologous or allogeneic cell therapies of immune cells for the treatment of autoimmune disease.

The 2seventy Bio team currently involved in the program will join Novo Nordisk and continue to advance the technology.

The program is based on the original research agreement, established in 2019, which focused on a gene editing therapy for people with Hemophilia A. 2seventy Bio will focus exclusively on the commercialization and continued development of Abecma, its BCMA-targeted CAR T cell therapy for multiple myeloma, in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb.

“We are devoted to developing therapies with a curative outlook, including our continued development of a next-generation in vivo genome editing program aiming to offer individuals living with Hemophilia A a lifetime free of factor replacement therapy,” said Karina Thorn, Novo Nordisk, corporate vice president, Global Nucleic Acid Therapies Research. “We have been working closely with 2seventy Bio colleagues aligned with our collaboration and welcome them to Novo Nordisk where we together will leverage the megaTAL technology for pioneering therapeutic applications.”

Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, 2seventy will potentially receive payments of up to $40 million. 2seventy will transfer the Hemophilia A program to Novo Nordisk and the existing collaboration agreement will terminate. Additionally, the divestiture will include transfer of 2seventy bio’s megaTAL technology and a license to underlying intellectual property.

“We are pleased to announce the completion of this APA with Novo Nordisk as we believe it will provide the appropriate resources for both the team and the science behind this important program,” said Chip Baird, CEO, 2seventy Bio. “In addition, the divestiture supports 2seventy’s exclusive focus on delivering Abecma to as many patients as possible.”