Cellectis, Primera Therapeutics to develop therapies for mitochondrial diseases
Artur Plawgo
- Primera Therapeutics and French biotech Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) on Thursday said they would collaborate to develop therapies for mitochondrial diseases.
- Primera and CLLS will work collaboratively to edit mutations of the mitochondrial DNA to treat the root cause of associated causes.
- As per the collaboration agreement, Primera will have a right to exercise an exclusive worldwide option for a license from Cellectis (CLLS) on up to five product candidates developed under the collaboration.
- If Primera exercises the option, CLLS will be eligible for up to $750M of development and sales milestones and royalty payments, CLLS said in a statement.
- U.S.-listed shares of CLLS gained 9.7% to $2.14 after hours.
- Rockville, Md.-based Primera is focused on mitochondrial diseases by developing a gene editing platform to target mutant mitochondrial DNA.
- Primera was launched by Mayflower BioVentures, which is a JV between not-for-profit medical center Mayo Clinic, biotech investment firm Hibiscus BioVentures and others.