NEW YORK – Sarepta Therapeutics has invested an undisclosed sum in Lexeo Therapeutics, and the two companies on Monday said they will explore opportunities to further develop gene therapies in Lexeo's preclinical pipeline for cardiovascular disease.
The US Food and Drug Administration in June approved Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Sarepta's Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), making it the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Now, having invested in Lexeo, Sarepta has expressed an interest in gene therapies for cardiovascular disease in the New York-based company's early-stage therapeutic portfolio. The firms didn't disclose the financial details of their deal.
"Sarepta's investment in Lexeo aligns with our vision of expanding the promise of gene therapy," Sarepta President and CEO Doug Ingram said in a statement. "We are excited by the potential of Lexeo's pipeline to deliver a new future for patients with devastating genetic cardiovascular diseases."
Lexeo has two adeno-associated virus vector-based therapies in preclinical stage, LX2021 and LX2022, for arrhythmogenic and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, respectively.
The company is advancing two other cardiovascular gene therapies in clinical trials. Earlier this month, the firm got permission from the FDA to begin a Phase I/II trial to study LX2020 in patients with mutations in the PKP2 gene that cause arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. LX2006 is another gene therapy Lexeo is developing in Friedreich's ataxia cardiomyopathy in the SUNRISE-FA Phase I/II trial.
Outside of cardiovascular disease, Lexeo is exploring several gene therapies in preclinical and clinical studies of molecularly defined subsets of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other central nervous system disorders.