Eli Lilly has announced the acquisition of Adverum Biotechnologies, gaining intravitreal gene therapy candidate ixoberogene soroparvovec delivering an aflibercept-encoding sequence for single injection treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). The Phase III ARTEMIS trial completed patient screening evaluating the candidate versus standard eight-week aflibercept dosing in 284 treatment-naive and previously treated patients, with primary endpoint of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) change at 52 and 56 weeks. Phase II LUNA study data showed 76% to 83% of patients required no additional anti-VEGF injections, with 90% to 95% reduction in annual injection frequency demonstrating potential for durable protein expression.

The acquisition enhances Lilly's ophthalmology portfolio, building on existing diabetic retinopathy and geographic atrophy programmes through a novel gene therapy approach addressing the treatment burden of frequent intravitreal injections. Adverum's pipeline includes additional single-administration gene therapies targeting inherited retinal diseases through proprietary vector engineering, optimising transduction efficiency and safety profile. Lilly Molecular Discovery vice president Andrew Adams highlighted the potential transformation from chronic management to one-time curative intervention for this leading cause of blindness in elderly populations worldwide.

PharmCube's NextBiopharm® database shows that ixoberogene soroparvovec is the most advanced VEGFR gene therapy under development. Click here to request a free trial for NextBiopharm®.