LONDON ¿ Shares in Cantab Pharmaceuticals plc of Cambridge rose 22 percent to #2.21 last Wednesday when it disclosed a license agreement with GenVec Inc. to strengthen its position in herpes simplex virus (HSV) vector technology. The deal provides Cantab with a platform to develop its gene therapy technologies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Cantab¿s spokeswoman, Melissa Hellberg, told BioWorld International, ¿We have an ongoing CNS research program using our Disc HSV as a vector. It is very early stage so we have not talked about it in detail. The deal with GenVec gives us the option to add intellectual property that could further enhance Disc HSV.¿

Disc HSV, which Cantab is developing as a vaccine for genital herpes, is genetically modified to go through one round of replication in the host. The deal with GenVec, of Gaithersburg, Md., gives Cantab access to additional gene deletions, which prevent the virus from replicating at all. The aim would be to get modified herpes simplex to deliver a therapeutic gene to the affected tissue. The virus would stay permanently in the latent phase, continuously expressing the therapeutic gene.

In return for an exclusive multiyear option for licenses to GenVec¿s HSV patents, Cantab has paid a fee and will make additional payments during the option period. If it takes up an option in any disease area, Cantab will pay a license fee, milestones and royalties on any products.

Stephen Inglis, research director of Cantab, noted the company has already demonstrated the safety of the HSV vector in Phase I trials. He said the deal ¿creates a very powerful technology base from which to develop gene therapy products for neurodegenerative diseases. We believe this agreement places Cantab at the forefront of HSV vector development for gene delivery.¿

Cantab is yet to make a decision on what genes it may load into the HSV vector. Hellberg said, ¿I wouldn¿t rule out the possibility of Cantab taking products into clinical trials, but of course this also a very licensable technology.¿