Triangle Business Journal: New gene therapy subsidiary inks UNC licensing deals

unc-genetics
December 13, 2017
By Brock

New York-based Fortress Biotech (Nasdaq: FBIO) has formed a new gene therapy subsidiary. And as part of that formation, it has inked three exclusive licensing agreements with UNC-Chapel Hill.

“The Gene Therapy Center [at UNC] is extremely well known,” says A.J. Ross, VP of business development at Fortress. There have been a number of companies in the space started out of UNC, including Bamboo Therapeutics, he notes (Bamboo was acquired by Pfizer last year in a deal worth up to $645 million).

This is the first time Fortress has worked with UNC, confirms Dr. Shuli Kulak, director of new business development for rare pediatric diseases at Fortress. “It has been a pleasure to work with the university,” she says.

Fortress’ new subsidiary – New York-based Tamid Bio – will focus on the development of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies for the treatment of rare orphan diseases, according to the company. AAV’s use in gene therapy is particularly popular because of its lack of pathogenicity, or ability to cause disease in humans.

Tamid’s licensing agreements with UNC are for three preclinical AAV gene therapies, developed in the lab of Matthew Hirsch, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the UNC Gene Therapy Center.

Full story via Triangle Business Journal

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