Astel­las eyes rare oph­thal­mol­o­gy, li­cens­ing 4DMT's vi­ral vec­tor for gene ther­a­py for up to $962M

Astel­las will pay 4D Mol­e­c­u­lar Ther­a­peu­tics $20 mil­lion up­front to use its vi­ral vec­tor for a rare mono­genic eye dis­ease in a deal worth up to $962 mil­lion, the com­pa­nies an­nounced Mon­day evening.

Astel­las is not dis­clos­ing what rare eye dis­ease it plans to tar­get with the ade­no-as­so­ci­at­ed virus, or AAV, vec­tor. But it is not one that 4D Mol­e­c­u­lar Ther­a­peu­tics, known as 4DMT, is work­ing on al­ready, ac­cord­ing to the com­pa­nies. Astel­las al­so has the op­tion to use the vec­tor for two more rare mono­genic dis­eases down the line.

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