Crosswalk Therapeutics has strolled over to Codexis to pick up Fabry and Pompe disease compounds that remain from an abandoned Takeda gene therapy collaboration.
Codexis and Takeda had been working together to assess the biotech’s recombinant AAV-based gene tech for the potential treatment of Fabry or Pompe disease. However, the future of the collaboration was thrown into doubt after the Japanese pharma announced in April 2023 that it was moving away from early-stage R&D work in adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies.
In a post-market release yesterday, Codexis confirmed that the collaboration was a victim of Takeda’s strategic shift.
But Takeda’s loss is Crosswalk’s gain. The biotech has picked up the two programs in return for the promise of development and commercial milestone payments in addition to a low- to mid-single-digit percentage net sales-based royalty should any candidates make it to market.
On paper, it’s a perfect fit. Crosswalk—formerly known as Zebra Biopharma—is led by former members of Takeda’s rare diseases team, which, as Codexis pointed out, means they are already familiar with the programs.
Codexis has kept its head down for the last year. Its last major announcement was in July 2023, when the biotech said it was laying off a quarter of its staff as part of a refocus on its enzyme-catalyzed oligonucleotide platform as well as its pharmaceutical manufacturing business. This meant “discontinuing investment in certain development programs, primarily in biotherapeutics,” it said at the time.
“We’re thrilled to place these exciting programs in highly experienced hands at Crosswalk Therapeutics,” Codexis Chief Operating Officer Kevin Norrett said in the July 1 release.
“Since announcing our strategic shift last year, we have executed multiple transactions to monetize our non-core assets and enable our team to focus on programs where we can deliver maximum value,” Norrett added.