Sio Gene returns rights to Parkinson's candidate to Oxford Biomedica

UK gene and cell therapies developer Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB) says that US-headquartered Sio Gene Therapies (Nasdaq: SIOX), formally known as Axovant, intends to return the global rights for AXO-Lenti-PD and that it intends to cease work on this gene therapy program in Parkinson’s disease.

This follows Sio’s announcement yesterday about the resignation of its chief executive, when Sio also indicated a constraint on resource requirements that has caused Sio to deprioritize the program. All rights will be returned to Oxford Biomedica at no cost to the company. The company expects that the impact on revenue will be negligible over at least the coming 24-month period as no financial milestones were expected in the short and medium-term.

Despite an immediate market reaction sending Oxford Biomedica’s shares down 3%, the stock had more than recovered by midday. The UK firm originally linked up with then Axovant, in a deal worth a potential $824 million.