OvaScience, a life sciences company, and Intrexon Corporation have announced an agreement to access Intrexon’s portfolio of technologies to accelerate the development of OvaScience’s OvaTure technology platform
Separately, the companies established a Joint Venture, called OvaXon, to combine their unique technology platforms to create new applications for improving human and animal health.
OvaTure is OvaScience's next-generation approach to in vitro fertilization (IVF) using a woman's own EggPCs, which are immature egg cells found in the outer edge of the ovaries. OvaScience uses proprietary methods to identify, isolate and mature EggPCs into high quality eggs for in vitro fertilization without the need for hormone injections.
Importantly, OvaTure may provide a new treatment option for women with compromised eggs, or who may be unwilling or unable to undergo hormone hyperstimulation, such as women diagnosed with cancer who seek to preserve their future fertility.
Through the Exclusive Channel Collaboration (ECC) between the companies, Intrexon will use its proprietary Cell Systems Informatics, UltraVector, RheoSwitch, AttSite, and LEAP technologies, to develop methodologies to enable the accelerated and scalable development of OvaTure.
In addition and as part of the Joint Venture, the combination of OvaScience's EggPC platform with Intrexon's genome engineering capabilities offers an innovative approach to the prevention of inherited diseases in humans, such as mitochondrial and other genetic disorders.
Intrexon's Health Sector senior vice president Dr Samuel Broder underscored the potential for this collaboration.
Dr Broder said the collective expertise and technologies can help OvaScience to revolutionize the future of in vitro fertilization.
"I am also excited to be working together to correct genetic diseases that have been identified through the Human Genome Project, one of the most important scientific research endeavors of our time, and one in which I participated," Dr. Broder added.
Intrexon chairman and CEO Randal J Kirk noted OvaScience is at the forefront of developing new infertility treatments and these agreements demonstrate the tremendous value that we believe can be created by combining our respective technologies and expertise.
"It also reflects our shared commitment to develop new ways to prevent serious diseases in children around the world," Kirk added.
Under the ECC agreement, OvaScience will gain access to all Intrexon technologies and expertise to accelerate development of OvaTure in exchange for a $2.5m payment by OvaScience to Intrexon in common stock due upon signing, and $2.5m due one year later.
The agreement also provides for a commercial milestone payment as well as royalties, which are dependent upon timing of completion by Intrexon. OvaScience will retain all commercial rights to OvaTure.
Under the terms of the OvaXon Joint Venture, each company will share equally in the research and development costs associated with leveraging the value of the combined technologies.
OvaXon has been granted commercial and related intellectual property rights from OvaScience and Intrexon outside the field of human fertility to apply the combined technologies of Intrexon and OvaScience within fields-of-use defined under the Joint Venture, which include prevention of genetic disease and animal health.
