Alector, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALEC), a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies to counteract the devastating progression of neurodegeneration, today announced it has entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, granting Genentech worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Alector’s AL050 program, its brain-penetrant engineered glucocerebrosidase (GCase) ERT.

AL050 is designed to address GCase deficiency, a driver of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s Disease that is most pronounced in – but not limited to – carriers of GBA1 mutations. It combines an Alector-engineered GCase, optimized for greater enzymatic activity and a longer half-life, with Alector’s ABC, which is designed to transport therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier. Delivered into the brain, the enzyme is intended to break down glucosylsphingosine and glucosylceramide, lipids that accumulate in neurons and other brain cells upon GCase deficiency and contribute to neurodegeneration, with the aim of reducing cellular dysfunction and slowing disease progression.