NEW YORK – Trinity Capital on Tuesday said it has committed $40 million in term loans to Taysha Gene Therapies to support clinical development of its Rett syndrome candidate.
The loans will fund Dallas-based Taysha's operating expenses and capital requirements into 2026 and support development of TSHA-102, its lead candidate and an investigational gene therapy for Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene.
TSHA-102, which is currently being tested in a Phase I/II trial, is an intrathecally administered adeno-associated virus 9 vector-based gene transfer therapy that delivers a shorter, but functional, version of MECP2 and uses Taysha's miRARE platform to modulate cellular MECP2 expression.
"We are highly encouraged by the support from Trinity," Taysha CFO Kamran Alam said in a statement. "With Trinity's support, we believe we are well positioned to continue to execute across our near-term milestones for our TSHA-102 program in Rett syndrome."
Taysha in September said it would discontinue development of TSHA-120, a gene therapy candidate for giant axonal neuropathy, after the US Food and Drug Administration recommended another trial, in a move the company said would reduce operating expenses and extend its cash runway as it develops TSHA-102. In August, the firm said it had entered into a securities purchase agreement for private placement (PIPE) financing led by RA Capital Management, which it said it expected to bring in gross proceeds of approximately $150 million.
In Q2 2023, the most recent quarter Taysha has reported financial results, the firm reported $2.4 million in service revenue. It had no revenues in the year-ago quarter, and the company does not have any marketed therapeutic products. Taysha posted a net loss of $24.6 million, or $.38 per share, compared to a net loss of $34.1 million, or $.85 per share, the year prior.