Ascend Advanced Therapies acquired Beacon Therapeutics’ CMC team and GMP facility and site in Alachua, FL. The deal also includes a long-term partnership with Beacon to continue manufacturing its products for clinical and commercial use, securing product supply for Beacon, and enabling it to focus on clinical development.
“As we continue building [our] flexible adeno-associated virus (AAV) platform across serotypes on the market, we also understand the critical value of our employees,” said Mike Stella, CEO at Ascend. “This acquisition allows us to now support customers from research through to commercialization and adds to one of the most experienced gene therapy teams in the market.”
“We are excited to enter this strategic arrangement with Ascend to advance our sight saving therapies toward approval. This alignment is critical to securing GMP drug product supply for our late-stage clinical asset AGTC-501 for the treatment of X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa,” added David Fellows, CEO at Beacon Therapeutics. “The Ascend team brings significant experience in gene therapy manufacturing and a strong commitment to building capabilities to support future Beacon pipeline programs.”
The Beacon Therapeutics portfolio currently includes three ocular gene therapy products utilizing AAV to deliver gene constructs that address retinal disorders. The proteins expressed from the transduced constructs compensate for deficiencies in the patient cells, or otherwise intervene in pathological processes, potentially restoring vision or preventing disease progression.
