RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK Dallas-basedTaysha Gene Therapiesannounced plans today to invest $75 million in a gene therapy manufacturing facility in Durham that will employ more than 200 people.

Taysha is joining the fast-growing community of cutting-edge gene- and cell-therapy companies setting up shop in the Research Triangle, where decades of investment and workforce training have created a magnet for the discovery and manufacture of sciences game-changers in fighting some of humankinds most fearsome maladies.

Taysha logo

The company is developing gene therapies that use benign adeno-associated viruses (AAV) as vectors, or carriers, to transport genetic corrections to otherwise defective areas of the body. Taysha is initially targeting genetic diseases of the central nervous system, such as CLN1 disease, also called infantile Batten disease, which causes developmental delays in children, and Rett syndrome, a rare genetic mutation affecting brain development in young girls.

Taysha has a partnership withthe University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centernear its Dallas headquarters that accommodates some initial production of its gene therapies. And the company announced a partnership last month to add manufacturing capacity at therapeutics developer CatalentsMaryland-based gene therapy facilities. But the RTP investment is aimed at large-scale manufacturing of Tayshas product line as it evolves.

There are reasons the Research Triangle has become an epicenter for AAV technology, used by most gene therapy companies today. It was developed byJude Samulski, Ph.D.,of Chapel Hill, who holds the first U.S. patent for inserting non-AAV genes into AAV. Samulski is the lead inventor on more than 300 patents in the field of AAV vectors and gene therapy.

Jobs paying nearly $120,000 coming to Durham County in biotech expansion

Samulski was recruited to the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1993 with nearly $250,000 in grant funding from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. He led UNCs Gene Therapy Center for several years and in 2001 co-foundedAsklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio)in RTP, which Bayer recently bought for $4 billion.

AskBio itself spun out four gene therapy startups in recent years:NanoCor Therapeutics, Chatham Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics andActus Therapeutics. Chatham was acquired by Takeda, and Bamboo wasacquired by Pfizer.

That base of gene therapy science, coupled with North Carolinas storied life sciences workforce development system and positive business climate, have drawn billions of dollars of investment from gene and cell therapy companies to the Triangle in recent years.

Taysha has had numerous connections with North Carolinas gene therapy community. One of the companys founders, early chief scientific officer Steven Gray,worked in Samulskis labat UNC. Also, several other members of the management team came from AveXis. Swiss drugmakerNovartisbought AveXis for $8.7 billion in 2018 and renamed it Novartis Gene Therapies.

Taysha is all about helping patients, and this investment underlines North Carolinas commitment to help the company achieve that vision, said Bill Bullock, senior vice president of economic development and statewide operations for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, a partner in Tayshas recruitment to the state.

It also reinforces North Carolinas commitment to providing best-in-class talent to attract these types of investments, and the states position as a global leader in gene therapy manufacturing.

Taysha is a publicly held company trading on the Nasdaq exchange with the symbol TSHA. The company says Taysha is a word in the Caddo Native American language meaning ally or friend.

(C) N.C. Biotech Center

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Landing of $75M expansion of Texas-based Taysha adds to Triangle's growing gene therapy hub - WRAL Tech Wire