US artificial intelligence (AI) to gene therapy focussed biotech Dyno Therapeutics has signed a collaboration and license agreement with Roche to apply Dyno’s CapsidMa platform for the development of next-generation adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors for gene therapies for central nervous system (CNS) diseases and liver-directed therapies for the portfolio of both Roche and its Spark Therapeutics subsidiary.

Dyno Therapeutics, which was spun out of the lab of Professor George Church of Harvard and formed in late 2018 with a $9 million financing co-led by Polaris Partners and CRV, emerged from stealth in May this year, when it also announced a deal with the other Swiss pharma giant, Novartis, as well as one with US biotech Sarepta Therapeutics, which combined may be worth around $2 billion.

Under the terms of the latest accord, Dyno will be responsible for the design of novel AAV capsids with improved functional properties for gene therapy, while Roche and Spark Therapeutics will be responsible for conducting pre-clinical, clinical and commercialization activities for gene therapy product candidates using the novel capsids.

“This new partnership represents Dyno’s largest collaboration to date, and we are excited to work with Roche and Spark Therapeutics to expand the frontier of gene therapies for the central nervous system and liver. The Dyno, Roche and Spark teams share a bold vision for gene therapy and believe that enhancing vectors that deliver these therapies is key to developing new treatments for patients in need,” stated Dyno’s chief executive and co-founder Eric Kelsic.

“We strongly believe in the potential of gene therapy and are excited to bring together experts from Roche, Spark and Dyno to develop next-generation gene therapies. Dyno’s innovative AI-powered approach to designing optimized AAV vectors will further complement and build on our progress in gene therapy. We look forward to leveraging Dyno’s technology to develop new, innovative treatments for patients across CNS and liver-directed therapies,” said James Sabry, head of Roche Pharma Partnering.