Sept. 14 Quick Takes: Inhaled gene therapy play AlveoGene launches

AlveoGene Ltd., a U.K. academic spinout seeking to develop inhalable lentiviral gene therapies for respiratory disorders, emerged from stealth Thursday with a seed round from Oxford Science Enterprises, Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, and the University of Edinburgh-affiliated Old College Capital. The investors formed AlveoGene in tandem with scientists from the U.K. Respiratory Gene Therapy Consortium, which includes the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. The start-up will first aim to develop AVG-001, its therapy for AAT deficiency.

Harpoon Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:HARP) said AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) will not exercise its option to obtain rights to Harpoon’s HPN217, a trispecific T cell activating construct (TriTAC) therapy targeting BCMA to treat multiple myeloma. AbbVie had paid Harpoon $50 million up front in a pair of 2019 deals that included the option; in 2021, the pharma exercised an option to acquire a subsidiary of TeneoBio Inc. to gain a bispecific targeting CD3 and BCMA. Harpoon, which conducted a 1-for-10 reverse stock split effective this month, fell 17% to $5.40, giving it a market cap of about $22 million...