Hansa Biopharma AB (publ) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc., a fully integrated AAV gene therapy company and a fully owned subsidiary of Bayer AG dedicated to developing medicines that improve the quality of life for patients with genetic diseases. The collaboration will evaluate the potential use of imlifidase as a pre-treatment prior to the administration of AskBio's gene therapy in Pompe disease in a pre-clinical and clinical feasibility program for patients with pre-existing neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) to adeno-associated virus. Pompe disease is a rare genetic and often fatal metabolic disorder that occurs in 1 in every 40,000 births.

The disease is caused by the deficiency of an enzyme called acid alpha-glucosidase and results in the accumulation of glycogen in organs and tissues, especially muscles, which impairs their ability to function normally. Under the terms of the agreement, Hansa will receive a USD 5 million payment upon execution of the agreement and AskBio will have an exclusive option to enter into a full development and commercialization agreement following evaluation of the results from an initial Phase I/II study. AskBio will be responsible for conducting the pre-clinical and clinical studies with imlifidase under the feasibility program and Hansa will supply its materials and additional support set forth in the feasibility program.