Vect-Horus: targeting RNA to treat neurological diseases

Vect-Horus, founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the Institut de Neurophysiopathologie (INP, CNRS/AMU), is a privately-owned biotechnology company that designs and develops molecular vectors for the targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules and imaging agents to various organs.

After signing an exclusive licence agreement with the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk at the end of 2023, the company signed a new worldwide licence agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at the end of January.

An exclusive worldwide licence agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The agreement provides Ionis with a worldwide, exclusive licence for a specified number of targets using Vect-Horus’ platform technology ”VECTrans®”. Following systemic administration, this technology enables RNA-targeted therapies to be transported across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and address targets in the central nervous system.

Ionis has the option of adding further targets to the licence, while Vect-Horus reserves the right to use its technology, for these specific targets, for all non-RNA-Targeted medicines. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Vect-Horus will receive a double-digit million-dollar upfront payment. Vect-Horus will be eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments and tiered single digit royalties on annual product sales.

Creating innovative medecines to treat neurological diseases

“We are extremely pleased to partner with Ionis, a pioneer in RNA-targeted medicines, to tackle one of the toughest problems in RNA therapeutics, systemic delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier,” said Alexandre Tokay co-founder and CEO of Vect-Horus. “This license is aligned with our strategy of using our technology to deliver drug payloads, such as RNA-targeted therapeutics, to the brain and other tissues. We hope that combining our technology with Ionis’ industry-leading RNA-targeted drug platform will enable the creation of innovative medicines for a variety of neurological diseases.”

"With a proven track record of delivering first-in-class disease modifying medicines for serious neurological diseases, we believe we are well positioned to tackle the next frontier of delivery of neurology medicines across the blood-brain barrier," said Eric E. Swayze, Ph.D., Ionis' executive vice president of research. "Vect-Horus’ promising technology represents a strategic addition to our industry-leading RNA technologies, providing us with the potential to bring systemically-delivered medicines to patients in need of treatment options across both rare and common neurological diseases.”