Feb. 25 Quick Takes: AveXis execs, Deerfield launch Jaguar plus one; Sarepta DMD approval, Apollomics IPO plans and Sirion-Sanofi, an Oxford pair and DeuterOncology
Led by Sean Nolan as executive chairman and Joe Nolan as CEO, the former management team of AveXis partnered with Deerfield Management to launch Jaguar Gene Therapy LLC. Jaguar’s preclinical pipeline of AAV9-based gene therapies target diseases that include galactosemia, genetic causes of autism spectrum disorder, Type I diabetes and, via subsidiary Axovia Therapeutics Inc., Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Deerfield is providing an undisclosed amount of series A money and access to its network of 18 academic partners.
Axovia debuts to develop therapies for cilia disorders
Axovia, a majority-owned subsidiary of Jaguar, emerged from stealth to develop AAV9 gene therapies for patients with ciliopathies, starting with Bardet-Biedl syndrome patients with mutations in the BBS1 gene. The company, which is led by former University College London researcher Philip Beales as CEO, was partially funded by UCL Technology Fund...