CombiGene Shares More Than Double on $328.5 Million Epilepsy Therapy Deal

By Dominic Chopping

STOCKHOLM--Shares in Swedish biotech company CombiGene AB more than doubled Tuesday after it said that it has entered into an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement with Roche Holding AG subsidiary Spark Therapeutics for CG01, CombiGene's gene therapy developed for epilepsy.

Under the deal, Spark will have the exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize CG01, with CombiGene receiving up to $328.5 million excluding royalties, with $8.5 million upon signing, as well as up to $50 million at several preclinical and clinical milestones.

CombiGene said its CG01 drug candidate is being developed to treat drug-resistant focal epilepsy, the most common form of epilepsy in adult epileptics.

"CombiGene's ambition is that CG01 will become the world's first curative treatment, compared to current treatments that only treat the symptoms."

The development of CG01 is in a late preclinical stage with the aim that clinical studies can be started next year. The company's production platform, developed together with its partners Cobra Biologics and Viralgen, is scalable up to full commercial production, it added.

CombiGene shares traded as high as SEK14.10 on Tuesday, from the morning's opening price of SEK6.29.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2021 07:08 ET (11:08 GMT)

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