Agreement between the two companies includes process development of AAV-based gene therapies
Coave Therapeutics – a company focused on treating the central nervous system – and ABL, which specialises in the development of viruses for vaccine candidates, gene and cancer therapies, have entered a strategic collaboration to develop its gene therapy manufacturing processes.
Under the two-stage collaboration, both companies will initially combine their expertise to co-develop manufacturing technologies for adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy products. Meanwhile, ABL and Coave’s process development teams will work jointly at ABL’s state-of-the-art good manufacturing practice facility in Lyon, France.
The second stage of the collaboration provides Coave with an option to secure process development capacity and laboratory space within the aforementioned facility. This will duly enable Coave to further develop and scale-up manufacturing technologies, including its proprietary next-generation AAV-Ligand conjugate vectors platform.
The deal will also strengthen Coave’s long-term ability to generate large-scale and high-quality gene therapy products based on this new generation of advanced AAV vectors.
“Our collaboration with ABL, a best-in-class and complementary partner for Coave, is a major step in our strategy towards the vertical integration of our R&D capacities, which will be crucial in enabling us to control the development and manufacture of our pipeline products in an end-to-end manner. The manufacturing processes developed through this partnership will be critical on the path to achieving our future clinical and commercial development milestones,” said Rodolphe Clerval, CEO at Coave.
Patrick Mahieux, general manager at ABL Europe, reflected: “We are delighted to join forces with Coave, a fellow French company. This exclusive partnership aims to bring together our knowledge and expertise to co-develop a state-of-the-art manufacturing process for viral vectors used in cell and gene therapies.
“We are excited to welcome Coave’s team of expert scientists to our facilities in Lyon to jointly accelerate the development of an AAV manufacturing platform. We look forward to a long-term partnership enabling the development and manufacturing of innovative cell and gene therapy treatments in France,” he added.
