MGTX Stock Soared 13% Today – What’s The Eli Lilly Angle?

• MeiraGTx will receive an upfront payment of $75 million and will be eligible to receive over $400 million in total milestone payments in addition to tiered royalties on licensed products. 
• Lilly, meanwhile, will also receive worldwide exclusive access rights to MeiraGTx’s gene therapy technologies for use in ophthalmology.

Shares of genetic medicines company MeiraGTx Holdings plc (MGTX) soared as much as 13% on Monday after the company announced a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) in the eye diseases segment.

As part of the collaboration, MeiraGTx will grant Lilly worldwide exclusive rights to its AAV-AIPL1 program for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis 4 (LCA4). Leber congenital amaurosis 4 is a severe, inherited eye disease that causes significant vision loss from birth. Symptoms include involuntary eye movements, sensitivity to light, high hyperopia, and a cone-shaped cornea.

Following treatment with AAV-AIPL1, 11 children who were born blind gained vision, the company said, while adding that the treatment also resulted in benefits in vital areas of development, including communication, behavior, learning, mood, psychological benefits, and social integration.

Terms Of The Collaboration

Lilly will also receive worldwide exclusive access rights to MeiraGTx’s gene therapy technologies for use in ophthalmology, in addition to certain rights to its proprietary riboswitch technology for use in gene editing in the eye.

In return, MeiraGTx will receive an upfront payment of $75 million and will be eligible to receive over $400 million in total milestone payments in addition to tiered royalties on licensed products.

“Ophthalmology is an emerging area of interest for Lilly,” said Andrew Adams, Lilly group vice president of Molecule Discovery.

“We are excited to partner with MeiraGTx to bring transformative treatments to patients around the world suffering from eye diseases, starting with AAV-AIPL1, which has shown the unprecedented ability to restore vision in children who were born legally blind,” he added.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around MGTX stock jumped from ‘neutral’ to ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘low’ to ‘extremely high’ levels.

A Stocktwits user opined that the stock is undervalued.

Another expressed hopes for FDA approval of AAV-AIPL1.

MGTX stock is up by 44% this year and by about 23% over the past 12 months. 

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