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July 21, 2020 Bioscience

Alexion sells IP to Boston biotech with Yale ties 

PHOTO | Contributed Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease's research facility at 100 College St. in New Haven.
By Natalie Missakian

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. has sold intellectual property related to a rare gene deficiency to a Boston biotech co-founded by two professors at the Yale School of Medicine.

Under the agreement, Inozyme Pharma is acquiring the patent estate, preclinical data and manufacturing research relating to Alexion’s ENPP1 gene deficiency program. The price was not disclosed.

In exchange for the assets, Alexion received an undisclosed number of shares of preferred stock representing a “single-digit” ownership stake in the company, Inozyme said.

ENPP1 deficiency is a rare, inherited, genetic inborn error of metabolism caused by mutations in the ENPP1 gene, according to Inozyme’s website. It can lead to life-threatening narrowing of the arteries in infants and cause rickets in children and adults.

The company has been developing a drug to correct a defect in the mineralization pathway caused by the deficiency. 

Yale School of Medicine professors Joseph Schlessinger and Demetrios Braddock, MD, co-founded Inozyme in 2017 to commercialize technology developed in Braddock’s lab at Yale. 

Rajinder Khunkhun, Alexion’s head of  business development. said the agreement “represents an innovative opportunity to advance the development of therapies for ENPP1 gene deficiencies.” 

Based in Boston, New Haven-born Alexion has a large research presence at 100 College St. 

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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