Lexeo Therapeutics has signed an agreement to acquire Mantle Therapeutics and launched several new collaborations aimed at expanding its position in Friedreich ataxia. The company said the moves will strengthen its focus on neurological disease and broaden its frataxin‑targeted development strategy.
R Nolan Townsend, Chief Executive Officer, Lexeo Therapeutics, said: “Our objective is to build the best-in-class therapeutic platform for the treatment of Friedreich ataxia.” “LX2006 remains our highest priority as the best-in-class treatment for FA cardiomyopathy, and the addition of Mantle’s pipeline, combined with new research collaborations will broaden our technology platform with multiple complementary CNS-targeted therapeutic strategies designed to restore frataxin in the brain and further improve outcomes for individuals living with FA.”
Mantle’s portfolio includes four programmes spanning clinical to discovery stages. These range from oral therapies designed to increase endogenous frataxin to recombinant frataxin protein and ASO‑based approaches intended to stabilise FXN mRNA.
Under the agreement, Lexeo will pay $8.3 million upfront in cash and equity, with up to $13 million in milestone payments. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Lexeo said it will evaluate the acquired programmes against predefined criteria and expects to advance one into clinical development within its existing cash runway. A prioritisation update is planned for early 2027.
The company also announced three collaborations supporting cerebellar‑targeted sequential dosing of frataxin gene therapy. These include research with Weill Cornell Medicine, an option agreement with Vivet Therapeutics for an IgG‑degrading enzyme and an option agreement with Apertura Gene Therapy for a novel CNS capsid.
Together with LX2006, the expanded portfolio will allow Lexeo to assess multiple biologic approaches for FA in the brain. Future trials are expected to include treatment arms for patients previously dosed with LX2006.
