Maze- Sanofi deal in Pompe shows how early clinical data can drive pharma deals

A deal with Maze will give Sanofi rights to an oral therapy for Pompe disease, strengthening the pharma’s armamentarium against the disorder with a substrate reduction approach that may be paired with approved enzyme replacement therapies.

Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NASDAQ:SNY) is paying $150 million in cash, including a future equity investment in privately held Maze Therapeutics Inc., for rights to the biotech’s GYS1 inhibitor MZE001. The molecule has generated Phase I data showing reductions in glycogen synthesis and total glycogen production, as well as glycogen biomarker data in peripheral blood as a surrogate measurement for muscle glycogen...