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Bayer, Dimension Therapeutics to Develop Haemophilia A Treatment

June 26, 2014

Bayer will join forces with Cambridge, Mass.-based gene therapy developer Dimension Therapeutics to develop a haemophilia A treatment, in a potential $252 million deal, the companies said.

Dimension will receive an upfront payment of $20 million and potential development and commercialization milestone payments of up to $232 million, they noted.

Dimension Therapeutics will be in charge of preclinical development activities and the Phase I/IIa clinical trials. Following the initial trial results, Bayer will take over and conduct the Phase III trial, make all regulatory submissions and have worldwide rights to commercialize the product. Dimension will receive royalties based on sales, the companies said.

Gene therapy gets faulty cells to work again by inserting corrective genes into them, without further use of drugs. Dimension has been looking into using viruses to carry the genes to the affected cells, it said.

Bayer already has an established haemophilia A drug, Kogenate, and has two more in Phase III trials, it said.

Standard treatments for haemophilia A are given intravenously multiple times a week, and can be needed for life.

Patients with hemophilia produce little or no clotting factor, which can cause life threatening bleeding. Hemophilia A is the most common type of hemophilia in the U.S., with roughly one in 5,000 males born with the condition. — Kellen Owings

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