Joe Sandys

Cooley advised AviadoBio, a company focused on gene therapy for neurodegenerative disorders, on its exclusive option and license agreement with Astellas Pharma for AVB-101, an investigational, adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy in Phase 1/2 development for patients with frontotemporal dementia with progranulin mutations (FTD-GRN).

The Chapter 11 plan of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, a long-standing Cooley life sciences client, has gone effective following the court’s confirmation of the Chapter 11 plan on June 26, 2024. The plan provides for a global settlement with the official committee of unsecured creditors and a settlement with PhaseBio’s former co-development partner. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware was handled by a multioffice, cross-disciplinary Cooley team.

Cooley advised Autolus – a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T-cell therapies – on its strategic collaboration with BioNTech, an immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases, to advance both companies’ autologous CAR-T programs toward commercialization, as well as a $350 million underwritten offering.

Bavarian Nordic, a vaccine company, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Emergent BioSolutions’ travel vaccines portfolio for up to $380 million, including an upfront payment of $270 million.

Cooley advised Bavarian Nordic, an international biotechnology company developing and manufacturing novel cancer immunotherapies and vaccines for infectious diseases, on its agreement to acquire the manufacturing and global rights to two commercial vaccines – Rabipur/RabAvert and Encepur – from GlaxoSmithKline, for €796 million. Partners Nicola Maguire and John Wilkinson led the Cooley team.