Purespring Therapeutics and SwanBio Therapeutics announce licensing agreement for use of FunSel screening platform

London, UK & Philadelphia, USA — 18 July 2022

Purespring Therapeutics, a pioneering gene therapy company focused on transforming the treatment of kidney diseases, has entered into a collaborative licensing agreement with SwanBio Therapeutics, a gene therapy company advancing adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based therapies for inherited neurological conditions, for the use of FunSel, Purespring’s proprietary gene therapy search engine.

FunSel enables a completely new way of discovering effective biological drugs, removing the narrow, target-focused bias built into traditional drug discovery. FunSel allows ‘functional selection’ of the most effective factor for disease phenotype correction, starting from a library of thousands of AAV vectors that are selected directly in vivo. All factors in the FunSel library are secreted outside the cells, maximising therapeutic benefit. FunSel is gene and mechanism of action agnostic and is based on the physiology of the organ and disease in question.

Under the terms of the agreement, SwanBio will license the FunSel screening platform from Purespring to explore new targets for early-stage pipeline programs. SwanBio will have an option to develop any targets identified and to own and commercialise any molecules developed. Purespring will be entitled to milestones and royalties upon successful commercialisation. Additional financial terms are not being disclosed.

The FunSel platform has already been instrumental in the creation of Purespring’s sister company Forcefield Therapeutics, a pioneer of best-in-class therapeutics to protect heart function, where FunSel was used to discover naturally occurring proteins that retain heart function and help existing cardiomyocytes protect themselves after myocardial infarction.

Richard Francis, Chief Executive Officer of Purespring, commented:

“FunSel brings unique and pioneering screening capabilities and can help deliver the promise of gene therapy to non-monogenic disorders, allowing far broader patient populations to be treated than is the case with most gene therapies. This is the second example of how this gene search engine is helping to underpin a company’s development strategy and demonstrates our ability to maximise the value of this platform by sharing this unique capability. SwanBio has a clear mission to develop AAV therapies for neurological disorders and it’s great to be able to support them and potentially others exploring new targets.”

Tom Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of SwanBio, added: 

“FunSel has the potential to enable acceleration and greater precision of candidate selection, and SwanBio’s application of FunSel has the potential to expand and confirm our early pipeline candidates. SwanBio is committed to advancing AAV-based therapies for the most debilitating neurological disorders and this technology promises to significantly support our ability to refine and further develop potential candidates for development.”

About Purespring

Purespring Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision nephrology company leading the development of targeted, first-in-class genetic therapies to preserve kidney function. Through its proprietary GlomThera™ platform, Purespring is able to deliver genetic therapies directly to the podocyte, offering a novel approach to the treatment of kidney diseases.

Purespring’s pipeline targets multiple renal indications with significant unmet medical need. The Company’s lead programme, PS-002, offers a highly differentiated approach for patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). By precisely targeting the site of disease, Purespring aims to transform the trajectory of kidney disease so patients can live fuller, healthier lives.

Purespring is backed by leading biotech investors, including Syncona Limited, Sofinnova Partners, Gilde Healthcare, Forbion, and the British Business Bank and has raised £115m ($150m) to date.

For more information please visit: purespringtx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

About FunSel

FunSel is a proprietary in vivo ‘gene therapy search engine’ developed by Purespring Therapeutics’ co-founder Professor Mauro Giacca, Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences at King’s College, London.

FunSel is ‘gene agnostic’: unconstrained by genetics and therefore does not rely on knowledge of which gene is causing a disease. It allows ‘functional selection’ of therapeutic factors for disease phenotype correction. FunSel contains a library of thousands of AAV vectors encoding secreted proteins.

Because it is gene agnostic, FunSel offers potential to allow the application of gene therapy to non-monogenic disorders and treat much broader patient populations.

The platform has already been instrumental in the creation of Purespring Therapeutics and sister company Forcefield Therapeutics, a pioneer of best-in-class therapeutics to protect heart function and has broad potential for researchers developing gene therapy in many disease areas. It provides Purespring with opportunities to support industry peers through partnering and potential collaborations.

About SwanBio Therapeutics

SwanBio Therapeutics is a gene therapy company that aims to bring life-changing treatments to people with devastating, inherited neurological conditions. SwanBio is advancing a pipeline of gene therapies, designed to be delivered intrathecally, that can address targets within both the central and peripheral nervous systems. This approach has the potential to be applied broadly across three disease classifications – spastic paraplegias, monogenic neuropathies, and polygenic neuropathies. SwanBio’s lead program is being advanced toward clinical development for the treatment of adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN). For more information, visit swanbiotx.com.