CureVac and Arcturus Therapeutics announce broad strategic collaboration

Develop next generation of lipid-mediated mRNA therapeutics

08-Jan-2018 - Germany

CureVac AG and Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd. announced they have entered into a broad strategic collaboration to jointly discover, develop and commercialize novel messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics.

Under the agreement, the companies will collaborate to develop up to four molecular therapy products for rare diseases using Curevac’s optimized natural mRNA sequence (RNAoptimizer®) and Arcturus’s lipid-mediated nucleic acid delivery system (LUNAR™). The agreement focuses on developing mRNA therapeutics for enzyme replacement and antibody generation. Development costs will be shared between the companies, with plans to co-commercialize products in the future under a profit sharing arrangement. The first mRNA therapy to be jointly developed and potentially commercialized by the companies will target ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, a genetic disease characterized by the accumulation of ammonia in the blood. The collaboration also grants CureVac access to the full suite of Arcturus’s lipid-mediated delivery intellectual property to enable the development of additional mRNA product candidates.

“This collaboration for up to four products establishes a sound relationship with Arcturus, which we believe is one of the leaders in developing lipid-mediated delivery systems for mRNA molecules,” said Ingmar Hoerr, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of CureVac. “Just as important, we are excited to have secured access to Arcturus’s leading intellectual property rights for future product development in molecular therapies. This partnership combines both companies’ technology platforms with the expertise necessary to develop the next generation of therapeutics based on the considerable potential of mRNA.”

“We are thrilled to combine Arcturus’s platform technologies and expertise with CureVac’s recognized capabilities in mRNA construct optimization and GMP manufacturing to co-develop messenger RNA medicines for patients in need,” said Joseph Payne, President and CEO of Arcturus. “We believe our collaboration with CureVac has the potential to help reduce costs, mitigate manufacturing risks, and accelerate our timelines for ushering quality mRNA medicines into the clinic.”

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/1152751/curevac-and-arcturus-therapeutics-announce-broad-strategic-collaboration.html