Joining forces to develop gene therapies for multiple life-threatening disorders

MUNICH, Germany, February 23, 2021— SIRION Biotech GmbH, a world leader in viral vector-based gene delivery technologies for gene & cell therapy, announced today that it signed a license and collaboration agreement with Sanofi, a global biopharmaceutical company, to develop improved tissue-selective adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to realize effective gene therapy treatments for disorders affecting major human organs.

AAV vectors are a promising and clinically validated gene delivery platform for the potential treatment of a variety of human diseases. Sanofi, together with SIRION Biotech and Prof. Dirk Grimm, a world-renowned and pioneering scientist in the field of AAV biology and application working at Heidelberg University Hospital (Germany), will combine their proprietary technology platforms to create a next generation of AAV vectors. The goal of this collaboration is to develop new and modified AAV capsids that exhibit a safe product profile with improved specificity and higher gene delivery efficiency.

“This partnership adds to our expanding toolbox of technologies in the important, emerging area of gene therapeutics,” said Dr. Christian Mueller, global head of genomic medicine at Sanofi. “Leveraging our expertise in virus-based vaccine and viral vector manufacturing together with Prof. Grimm’s cutting-edge AAV capsid evolution technology and SIRION’s expertise and capabilities in AAV vector manufacturing will allow us to better address unmet medical needs and open new frontiers for drug discovery in genomic medicine.”

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Sanofi,” stated Christian Thirion, Ph.D., CEO and Co‑founder of SIRION. “Sanofi is an ideal partner with decades-long experience in treating a multitude of disorders and exploring viral vectors as a therapeutic modality. AAV vectors with improved efficacy can enable quickly entering into clinical trials with efficient, safe low doses and scalable therapeutic candidates and can expand the impact of gene therapies.” Sabine Ott, Senior Vice President BD & Licensing at SIRION added: “We believe that through this exclusive partnership with Sanofi within these large disease fields, AAV-based gene therapies will provide novel treatment options to many millions of patients worldwide suffering from these diseases”.

 About SIRION Biotech GmbH
SIRION Biotech was founded in 2005 with the goal to spark a new generation of viral vector technologies for gene and cell therapy as well as vaccine development. SIRION evolves novel therapeutic viral vectors and uses proprietary technology platforms based on lenti-, adeno-, and adeno-associated viruses, to expedite its partners’ advances in drug development. For additional information, please visit www.sirion-biotech.com.

Corporate Contact
Dieter Lingelbach, COO
SIRION Biotech
+49 89-700-96199-14
lingelbach@sirion-biotech.com

 Media Contact USA
Lisa DeScenza
Assistant Vice President, Integrated Communications
LaVoieHealthScience
(978) 395-5970
ldescenza@lavoiehealthscience.com

 BD & Licensing Contact
Sabine Ott, Ph.D., SVP Licensing & BD
SIRION Biotech
+49 89-700-96199-14
ott@sirion-biotech.com