Novartis discontinues development of GT005 for geographic atrophy
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- Novartis is discontinuing the development of GT005 in geographic atrophy.
- Potential milestone payments for Syncona will be written off, resulting in a negative 54.5 million pound valuation impact.
Novartis is discontinuing the development of GT005 for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration, according to a press release from Syncona.
The decision by Novartis to stop the development of the AAV2-based gene therapy was based on a recommendation from an independent data monitoring committee “following an overall benefit-risk assessment of available data from the [program] studies, which concluded that overall data from the lead phase 2 HORIZON study did not support continuation of the development [program],” the release said.
Novartis has been developing GT005 following its acquisition of Gyroscope Holdings Limited from Syncona in February 2022, for which Syncona received upfront cash proceeds of $442 million (326 million pounds) from a total upfront cash consideration of $800 million (587 million pounds). Under the terms of the agreement, Syncona was eligible to receive milestone payments, previously valued at 54.5 million pounds, in the event of successful clinical development and commercialization of GT005.
The discontinuation will result in the milestone payments being written off, resulting in a negative 54.5 million pound valuation impact.
“We are naturally disappointed for patients following the decision to discontinue GT005, but we respect Novartis’ decision,” Chris Hollowood, CEO of Syncona Investment Management Limited, said in the release. “We remain focused on our strategy of building and maintaining our portfolio of companies providing significant opportunities to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns to our shareholders and to make a difference to the lives of patients with devastating diseases.”
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts