Challenge
A private biotech company developing gene therapy products for several orphan diseases was in the process of initiating CMC development for their pipeline products. In order to move forward, they needed to acquire commercial manufacturing licenses for several technologies that would be required for the production of their therapeutic products, including cell lines and patented processes for AAV manufacturing. The client had identified institutions and companies that owned the IP they required, but given their small business development team, they did not have the bandwidth to conduct the negotiations required to secure the licenses. The company sought interim support from Alacrita to secure the manufacturing licenses in order to move forward, while they built out their BD team.
Solution
Alacrita acted as the company’s BD team for a period of seven months. During this time, we initiated discussions with seven institutions and companies of interest to understand their products and deal terms. Alacrita then helped prioritize four companies and institutions with which to move forward with deal negotiations. During the process, Alacrita worked with the client’s team and provided negotiation strategy and deal terms advice, as well as conducted the negotiations on behalf of the client. Terms sheets were signed with all four companies/institutions, encompassing all the technologies the client required to move forward with the development of their CMC process. Alacrita also secured one contract, and conducted late stage contract negotiations with the remaining companies, at which point the new business development members of the client’s team took over to finalize the deals.
Gene Therapy Consulting
Alacrita frequently supports client programs in the gene therapy space, with our expertise spanning a range of therapeutic areas and functional disciplines.