Alexion Acquires Acquires Pfizer’s Portfolio of Preclinical Rare Disease Gene Therapies

Rare Daily Staff

Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, has entered a definitive purchase and license agreement for Pfizer’s portfolio of preclinical gene therapy programs and enabling technologies.

The agreement furthers Alexion and AstraZeneca’s commitment to advancing next-generation genomic medicines with the addition of complementary pipeline assets and innovative technologies.

In January 2023, Barron’s reported that Pfizer was planning to externalize rare disease early-stage research in neurology, cardiology, and its pre-clinical gene therapy programs.

As part of the agreement, Alexion will acquire a number of novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids. AAV capsids have been shown to be an effective mechanism for delivering therapeutic gene cargos for gene therapy and gene editing. These new resources build on Alexion and AstraZeneca’s combined capabilities in genomic medicine, recently strengthened with the acquisition of LogicBio, with the objective to develop new genetic therapies with improved safety and efficacy profiles. Additionally, Alexion will seek to welcome talent from Pfizer associated with the portfolio.

“Today’s announcement represents another major step forward in Alexion and AstraZeneca’s ambition to be an industry leader in genomic medicine, which has potential to be transformative and even curative for patients with devastating diseases,” said Marc Dunoyer, CEO, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease.

Under the agreement, Alexion will purchase and license the assets of Pfizer’s early-stage rare disease gene therapy portfolio for a total consideration of up to $1 billion, plus tiered royalties on sales.

Alexion plans to close the transaction in Q3 2023, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions.

Photo: Marc Dunoyer, CEO, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease