Axovant Sciences

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sio Gene Therapies
TypePublic Company
Nasdaq: SIOX
IndustryBiopharmaceutical
FounderVivek Ramaswamy
Key people
Pavan Cheruvu (CEO)
Websitesiogtx.com

Sio Gene Therapies, formerly known as Axovant Gene Therapies, is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that develops gene therapies to treat neurological disorders. The company is headquartered in New York City and is incorporated in Basel, Switzerland. The company was founded by former hedge fund analyst Vivek Ramaswamy[1] in 2014 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Roivant Sciences.[2]

It held its IPO in 2015 and raised $315 million.[3]

As of 2015 the company's most advanced drug candidate was intepirdine, a potential add-on treatment to donepezil for patients with Alzheimer's disease and patients with dementia with Lewy bodies.[3][1][4] Axovant acquired this molecule from GlaxoSmithKline in December 2014.[5] In July 2017, Axovant announced that the results of a phase III trial indicated that the drug was not effective for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.[6][7] It also entered clinical trials for dementia with Lewy bodies,[8] which were unsuccessful as well. Consequently, Axovant announced in 2018 that it has discontinued development of this drug.[9]

As of 2016 Axovant was also developing a second compound, nelotanserin. Axovant acquired global rights to nelotanserin from its former parent, Roivant, which had previously bought those rights from Arena Pharmaceuticals.[4] As of 2016 Axovant was developing it as a treatment for Lewy body dementia[10]

In 2016 Axovant partnered with NFL broadcaster Solomon Wilcots to raise awareness of Alzheimer's clinical trials[11][12] That year it also sponsored performances in several U.S cities of “Forget Me Not,” a play by Garrett Davis about an African American family coping with Alzheimer’s disease,[11] in order to raise awareness of its clinical trials in that community, because African Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as white Americans, but have been historically underrepresented in clinical research studies.[13]

Also in 2016, Axovant partnered with the mobile rideshare service Lyft to transport patients in Alzheimer's disease studies to clinical facilities.[14]

In 2017, David Hung joined the company as CEO.[15]

Axovant Gene Therapies Corporate Logo.svg

In 2018, David Hung resigned and Pavan Cheruvu became the new CEO.[16]

In December 2018, Axovant added two gene therapy programs[which?] to treat GM1 gangliosidosis and Tay–Sachs and Sandhoff diseases.[17][18]

In June 2019, Axovant announced a strategic partnership with Yposkesi, a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization, to expand Axovant's gene therapy manufacturing capacity.[19]

In August 2019, Axovant was preparing to report data from all three clinical-stage programs in the fourth quarter of 2019, including results from the second cohort of the AXO-LENTI-PD study and data from additional children dosed with AXO-AAV-GM1 and AXO-AAV-GM2.

In November 2020, Axovant rebranded as Sio Gene Therapies.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Karerat, Raif (12 Jun 2015). "Axovant Sciences founded by Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy has biggest US biotech IPO". The American Bazaar. Germantown, Maryland: Global Media Holding.
  2. ^ "10-K For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016". Axovant via SEC Edgar. June 6, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Staff (12 Jun 2015). "Axovant doubles in value after $315M IPO". Pharmaceutical Processing. Associated Press.
  4. ^ a b Crow, David (2015-11-02). "Axovant prepares to start pair of dementia drugs trials". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  5. ^ Pollack, Andrew (11 Jun 2015). "Shares of Axovant, Alzheimer's Drug Developer, Surge on Trading Debut". New York Times.
  6. ^ Garde, Damian (26 September 2017). "Another Alzheimer's failure: Axovant's drug flops in late-stage trial". STAT.
  7. ^ Herper, Matthew (September 26, 2017). "Axovant Alzheimer's Drug Fails To Help Patients". Forbes.
  8. ^ Study Evaluating Intepirdine (RVT-101) in Subjects With Dementia With Lewy Bodies: The HEADWAY-DLB Study
  9. ^ "Axovant slumps as it dumps lead drug intepirdine". Fierce Biotech. Jan 8, 2018.
  10. ^ Grover, Natalie (28 Apr 2016). "Acadia drug approval could clear way for Axovant dementia therapy". Reuters.
  11. ^ a b Henriques, Carolina (26 January 2016). "'Huddle Up for Alzheimer's' Campaign Encourages Clinical Trial Participation". Alzheimer's News Today. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  12. ^ Leuty, Ron (9 February 2016). "On sports' biggest stage, drug developers tap athletes' connections". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  13. ^ Kunkle, Frederick (23 November 2014). "Alzheimer's risk is higher in African Americans, but many fear clinical studies". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  14. ^ Rockoff, Jonathan (18 July 2016). "Companies Try New Ways to Attract Patients to Drug Trials". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  15. ^ Taylor, Nick Paul (April 10, 2017). "Axovant stock jumps as Medivation founder takes CEO post". FierceBiotech.
  16. ^ "Axovant Sciences Announces Changes to Management Team and Board of Directors | Axovant Sciences, Inc". Axovant Sciences, Inc. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  17. ^ Keown, Alex (14 December 2018). "Axovant Licenses Two Gene Therapies Aimed at Tay–Sachs and Sandhoff Disease". BioSpace (Press release).
  18. ^ Taylor, Nick Paul (14 December 2018). "Axovant buys more gene therapies, setting it up for a busy 2019". FierceBiotech (Press release).
  19. ^ "Yposkesi enters into strategic partnership to expand Axovant's gene therapy manufacturing capacity". Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  20. ^ Gelman, Max. "'We're not a vant': Axovant seeks to forget the past as the company rebrands to Sio Gene Therapies". Endpoints News.
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