Chiesi Global Rare Diseases has entered a co-development agreement with Aliada Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a novel blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing platform technology to address challenging disease areas with high unmet need.
 
The collaboration will focus on multiple enzyme cargoes modified with Aliada’s Modular Delivery (MODEL) platform, which harnesses endogenous brain endothelial cell transport mechanisms to efficiently move large molecule therapeutics across the BBB. The MODEL platform also demonstrates advantages over competing approaches with a broad design landscape that confers the ability to optimize therapeutics for both central nervous system (CNS) delivery and downstream functionality.
 
“Our commitment to the development of new treatment options for people living with lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) is global, as evidenced by recent regulatory approvals,” said Giacomo Chiesi, head of Chiesi Global Rare Diseases. “Many LSDs have CNS involvement. With this collaboration, we are expanding our strategy and presence in BBB-crossing technologies and hope to leverage our know-how in LSDs to support the development of an effective and differentiated drug delivery platform. We are especially proud to advance this important research with Aliada, a partner with vast experience in neuro drug development and biologics delivery.”
  
“We are excited to partner with Chiesi to develop improved therapeutics for patients living with LSDs, who currently lack treatments that can readily access the brain,” said Adam Rosenberg, Chief Executive Officer, Aliada Therapeutics. “We admire Chiesi’s continued commitment to patients, exemplified by their two recent FDA approvals. This collaboration will allow Aliada to demonstrate the diverse capabilities of our MODEL platform, which enables us to efficiently transport a diverse range of therapeutic cargoes into the brain.”