Maze Therapeutics finds new partner in Shionogi for Pompe disease

Maze Therapeutics has granted Shionogi an exclusive license to its investigational Pompe disease drug 5 months after the US Federal Trade Commission stopped Maze’s similar deal with Sanofi on antitrust grounds. The FTC had complained that if Sanofi were to acquire the drug candidate, it would have gotten rid of a potential challenge to what it called Sanofi’s monopoly on drugs to treat Pompe disease, a rare condition that causes muscle weakness over time. Shionogi will pay Maze $150 million up front, with the possibility of milestone payments. The candidate, MZE001, is a glycogen synthase 1 inhibitor that Maze says blocks glycogen accumulation.