Xenon Receives Major Milestone for Marketing Approval
Xenon recently announced it has received a milestone payment from uniQure BV for the European Commission marketing approval of Glybera, a novel gene therapy treatment for the orphan disease lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD), and the first gene therapy approved in the Western world.
Xenon exclusively licensed to uniQure BV its rights to the LPLS447X genetic variant that causes a gain of function in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene in humans. Humans with the LPLS447X variant have been shown on average to have lower triglyceride and higher HDL cholesterol levels than those without LPLS447X. Glybera developed by uniQure is an adeno-associated virus based human gene therapy that contains LPLS447X and in clinical studies, Glybera was effective in reducing blood fat levels and episodes of pancreatitis in patients with LPLD.
“The approval of Glybera is an important milestone for our company and for the gene therapy field in general,” said Simon Pimstone, President and CEO of Xenon. “Xenon was founded with a commitment to advancing human genetic discoveries into novel therapies for difficult to treat orphan diseases, and Glybera is the first product to be marketed by one of our licensees.”
In addition to the milestone payment, Xenon is also entitled to receive from uniQure BV royalty payments on sales of Glybera, which is expected to start selling in Europe in 2013. The LPLS447X technology in Glybera was conceived and developed by Xenon’s former CSO Michael Hayden at the Center of Molecular Medicine, University of British Columbia. Xenon is a privately owned, clinical genetics-based drug discovery and development company engaged in developing novel therapies for rare diseases. For more information, visit www.xenon-pharma.com.
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