uniQure Announces Closing of Sale of Manufacturing Facility to Genezen
uniQure has closed the sale of its global manufacturing facility in Lexington, Massachusetts to Genezen, a contract development and manufacturing organization. This strategic move is expected to reduce uniQure's annual cash burn by $40 million and streamline operations while maintaining preferential access to gene therapy manufacturing capabilities.
Key points:
- uniQure becomes a significant shareholder in Genezen
- CEO Matt Kapusta joins Genezen's Board of Directors
- $50 million in outstanding debt retired
- Amin Abujoub appointed as new Chief Technical Operations Officer
- Chief Operating Officer role eliminated
The company aims to focus future investments on projects with potential to increase shareholder value and plans to announce additional cost reduction measures later this quarter.
uniQure ha completato la vendita del suo stabilimento di produzione globale a Lexington, Massachusetts, a Genezen, un'organizzazione di sviluppo e produzione su contratto. Questa mossa strategica è destinata a ridurre il fabbisogno di cassa annuale di uniQure di 40 milioni di dollari e semplificare le operazioni mantenendo al contempo un accesso preferenziale alle capacità di produzione di terapia genica.
Punti chiave:
- uniQure diventa un azionista significativo di Genezen
- Il CEO Matt Kapusta si unisce al consiglio di amministrazione di Genezen
- 50 milioni di dollari di debito scaduto ripagati
- Amin Abujoub nominato nuovo Chief Technical Operations Officer
- Eliminato il ruolo di Chief Operating Officer
L'azienda punta a concentrare i futuri investimenti su progetti con potenziale di aumentare il valore per gli azionisti e prevede di annunciare ulteriori misure di riduzione dei costi entro la fine di questo trimestre.
uniQure ha cerrado la venta de su instalación de fabricación global en Lexington, Massachusetts, a Genezen, una organización de desarrollo y fabricación por contrato. Este movimiento estratégico se espera que reduzca el consumo de efectivo anual de uniQure en 40 millones de dólares y agilice las operaciones, manteniendo al mismo tiempo un acceso preferencial a las capacidades de fabricación de terapia génica.
Puntos clave:
- uniQure se convierte en un accionista significativo en Genezen
- El CEO Matt Kapusta se une a la Junta Directiva de Genezen
- 50 millones de dólares en deuda pendiente cancelados
- Amin Abujoub nombrado nuevo Chief Technical Operations Officer
- Eliminado el rol de Chief Operating Officer
La empresa busca concentrar futuras inversiones en proyectos con potencial para aumentar el valor para los accionistas y planea anunciar medidas adicionales de reducción de costos a finales de este trimestre.
uniQure는 매사추세츠주 렉싱턴에 위치한 글로벌 제조 시설을 Genezen에 매각했습니다. Genezen은 계약 개발 및 제조 조직으로, 이러한 전략적 결정은 uniQure의 연간 현금 소모를 4천만 달러 줄일 것으로 기대됩니다. 또한, 유전자 치료 제조 능력에 대한 우선 접근 권한을 유지하면서 운영을 간소화합니다.
주요 사항:
- uniQure는 Genezen의 주요 주주가 됩니다
- CEO Matt Kapusta가 Genezen의 이사회에 합류합니다
- 5천만 달러의 미지급 부채가 상환됩니다
- Amin Abujoub이 새로운 기술 운영 책임자로 임명됩니다
- 운영 책임자직이 삭제됩니다
회사는 향후 투자 방향을 주주 가치를 높일 가능성이 있는 프로젝트에 집중할 계획이며, 이번 분기 후반기에 추가 비용 절감 조치를 발표할 예정입니다.
uniQure a finalisé la vente de son usine de fabrication mondiale à Lexington, Massachusetts, à Genezen, une organisation de développement et de fabrication sous contrat. Ce mouvement stratégique devrait réduire la consommation annuelle de liquidités d'uniQure de 40 millions de dollars et rationaliser les opérations tout en maintenant un accès préférentiel aux capacités de fabrication de thérapies géniques.
Points clés :
- uniQure devient un actionnaire significatif de Genezen
- Le PDG Matt Kapusta rejoint le conseil d'administration de Genezen
- 50 millions de dollars de dettes restantes effacées
- Amin Abujoub nommé nouveau Chief Technical Operations Officer
- Le poste de Chief Operating Officer a été supprimé
L'entreprise vise à concentrer ses futurs investissements sur des projets susceptibles d'augmenter la valeur pour les actionnaires et prévoit d'annoncer d'autres mesures de réduction des coûts d'ici la fin de ce trimestre.
uniQure hat den Verkauf seiner globalen Produktionsstätte in Lexington, Massachusetts, an Genezen, eine Organisation für Vertragsentwicklung und -fertigung, abgeschlossen. Dieser strategische Schritt wird voraussichtlich den jährlichen Cashburn von uniQure um 40 Millionen Dollar reduzieren und die Abläufe rationalisieren, während der bevorzugte Zugang zu Herstellungsfähigkeiten für Gentherapien erhalten bleibt.
Wichtige Punkte:
- uniQure wird ein bedeutender Aktionär bei Genezen
- CEO Matt Kapusta wird Mitglied des Vorstands von Genezen
- 50 Millionen Dollar an ausstehenden Schulden getilgt
- Amin Abujoub zum neuen Chief Technical Operations Officer ernannt
- Die Rolle des Chief Operating Officers wurde gestrichen
Das Unternehmen beabsichtigt, zukünftige Investitionen auf Projekte zu konzentrieren, die das Potenzial haben, den Shareholder Value zu steigern, und plant, in diesem Quartal weitere Kostensenkungsmaßnahmen bekannt zu geben.
- Expected annual cash burn reduction of $40 million
- Retirement of $50 million in outstanding debt
- Maintained preferential access to gene therapy manufacturing capabilities
- uniQure becomes a significant shareholder in Genezen
- CEO Matt Kapusta joins Genezen's Board of Directors
- Divestiture of global manufacturing facility
- Elimination of Chief Operating Officer role
Critical Evaluation: The sale of uniQure's manufacturing facility is a financially impactful event. By shedding an asset that requires significant maintenance and operational costs, uniQure immediately reduces its cash burn by approximately
Implications: For investors, this means an increase in operational efficiency and a more focused allocation of resources towards high-potential projects. The reduction in recurring expenses can lead to improved profitability and potential stock price appreciation in the medium to long term. However, investors should monitor how the company's strategic shift impacts overall production capacity and the execution of its pipeline projects.
Industry Context: The biotech and gene therapy sectors are highly capital-intensive. Strategic moves like divesting non-core assets can be important for sustaining operations and funding important R&D activities. By divesting its manufacturing facility to Genezen, uniQure can now leverage Genezen's specialized expertise without the overhead costs of maintaining its own facility.
Future Outlook: The preferential access to Genezen's manufacturing capabilities ensures that uniQure's pipeline should not face significant disruptions. Investors should consider the strategic benefit of becoming a significant shareholder in Genezen, which may offer additional revenue streams or strategic advantages in the future. The seamless transition of employees is also a positive sign, minimizing potential operational hiccups.
Impact on R&D: Maintaining access to Genezen’s industry-leading gene therapy manufacturing capabilities is important for uniQure’s ongoing R&D efforts. This move allows uniQure to continue advancing its gene therapy candidates without the financial and logistical burden of operating its own facility. The experienced personnel transitioning to Genezen also ensures continuity in expertise and process knowledge.
Strategic Realignment: This operation reaffirms uniQure's commitment to focusing on high-value projects that could potentially yield significant clinical and commercial outcomes. The shift in strategic focus might expedite the development and approval of new therapies, enhancing long-term shareholder value.
~ uniQure maintains preferential access to industry-leading manufacturing capabilities to support its pipeline of gene therapy candidates ~
~ Immediate reduction in cash burn, projected to save
LEXINGTON, Mass. and AMSTERDAM, July 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ: QURE), a leading gene therapy company advancing transformative therapies for patients with severe medical needs, today announced the closing of the sale of its global manufacturing facility in Lexington, Massachusetts to Genezen, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in the supply of retroviral vectors, lentiviral vectors, and adeno-associated virus (AAV) technologies.
“With the completion of the divestiture, we take an important step toward achieving our goal of significantly reducing expenses and streamlining operations,” stated Matt Kapusta, chief executive officer of uniQure. “Additionally, this transaction provides uniQure continued and preferred access to world-class gene therapy manufacturing capabilities to advance our gene therapy product candidates and enables us to focus our future investments on projects that have the potential to meaningfully increase shareholder value. We remain committed to identifying further cost reduction opportunities and anticipate announcing additional progress later this quarter.”
uniQure and Genezen expect a seamless transition, with nearly all employees who were offered employment successfully joining Genezen. As a result of the transaction, uniQure becomes a meaningful shareholder of Genezen and Mr. Kapusta has joined Genezen’s Board of Directors. uniQure expects immediate reductions in future recurring cash burn of approximately
With the transaction now complete, Amin Abujoub, Ph.D. who currently serves as Chief Quality Officer has been appointed to the new role of Chief Technical Operations Officer and will be responsible for global oversight of contract manufacturers, including Genezen, as well as internal operations, facilities, process and analytical development, and quality. As a result of the divestiture, the Chief Operating Officer role was eliminated, and Pierre Caloz will depart the company, continuing to lend his expertise in an advisory capacity.
“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Pierre for his years of leadership, dedication and significant contributions to the company, all of which were instrumental in establishing uniQure’s industry-leading commercial manufacturing capabilities and achieving multiple regulatory approvals for HEMGENIX®,” added Matt Kapusta. “I also look forward to working with Amin in his new role and am highly confident that he will continue to have significant impact on our mission of delivering transformational gene therapies to patients in need.”
About Genezen
Genezen is a contract development and manufacturing organization(“CDMO”) with preclinical to commercial capabilities across retroviral vectors, lentiviral vectors, and AAV. Genezen operates a preclinical and early phase GMP site in Indianapolis, IN and a state of the art, commercially approved gene therapy manufacturing site in Lexington, MA. Led by an extremely experienced team, a science-first approach influences continual investment in scalable, high-yield manufacturing processes and best-in-class technologies. For more information about Genezen, please visit genezen.com.
About uniQure
uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy – single treatments with potentially curative results. The approvals of uniQure’s gene therapy for hemophilia B – an historic achievement based on more than a decade of research and clinical development – represent a major milestone in the field of genomic medicine and ushers in a new treatment approach for patients living with hemophilia. uniQure is now advancing a pipeline of proprietary gene therapies for the treatment of patients with Huntington's disease, refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, ALS, Fabry disease, and other severe diseases. www.uniQure.com
uniQure Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," “establish,” "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "look forward to", "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," “seek,” "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. Examples of these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the availability of manufacturing resources and capacity for the Company’s gene therapy pipeline; the potential for future projects and their ability to increase shareholder value; expectations regarding the transition of the Company’s former employees to Genezen; the Company’s expectations that the transaction will reduce operating expenses and cash burn by approximately
uniQure Contacts: | |
FOR INVESTORS: | FOR MEDIA: |
Chiara Russo | Tom Malone |
Direct: 617-306-9137 | Direct: 339-970-7558 |
Mobile: 617-306-9137 | Mobile:339-223-8541 |
c.russo@uniQure.com | t.malone@uniQure.com |
![](https://ml.globenewswire.com/media/ODU3OGNmYjQtYjIxYS00MmVkLWFkNTEtNTc1MDI4MDYwOTQ2LTEwOTE5Nzc=/tiny/uniQure-Inc-.png)
FAQ
What is the expected annual cost savings for uniQure (QURE) from the sale of its manufacturing facility?
How much outstanding debt did uniQure (QURE) retire through this transaction?
Who is the new Chief Technical Operations Officer at uniQure (QURE) following the facility sale?