Biopharmaceutical firm Axovant Sciences has agreed exclusive worldwide rights for the development and commercialisation of gene therapy company Oxford BioMedica’s investigational candidate OXB-102, now known as AXO-Lenti-PD, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Under the terms of the licence agreement, Oxford BioMedica will remain responsible for the clinical and commercial supply of AXO-Lenti-PD.

The gene therapy product is being developed to deliver three genes that encode certain important enzymes associated with dopamine synthesis in the brain.

By the end of this year, Axovant is planning to launch a Phase I/II dose escalation study to evaluate AXO-Lenti-PD in advanced Parkinson’s disease patients.

Axovant Sciences CEO Pavan Cheruvu said: "We will continue to pursue promising new therapeutic approaches based on transformative science, and will further expand our pipeline with high-quality assets like AXO-Lenti-PD.

"This is part of our long-term goal of building Axovant into a leader in the development and commercialisation of innovative new medicines for neurological indications."

"This is part of our long-term goal of building Axovant into a leader in the development of innovative new medicines for neurological indications."

Under the terms of the licence agreement, Axovant will pay $30m to Oxford BioMedica for the rights to AXO-Lenti-PD and its predecessor ProSavin.

Oxford BioMedica is also eligible to receive about $812m as development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on potential net sales of the product.

Oxford BioMedica CEO John Dawson said: "We are delighted to sign this significant agreement which not only underlines our LentiVector-enabled platform and product development strategy but further demonstrates Oxford BioMedica’s ability to build multiple partnerships with leaders in their respective therapeutics fields."

Pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences has agreed to provide $25m equity financing to Axovant for supporting AXO-Lenti-PD’s clinical development and other business activities

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