Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is going ahead and investing more funds into gene editing, as it has announced a collaboration with Tessera Therapeutics in December 2025, so as to create an experimental program pertaining to rare liver and lung disease.
At the core of this deal is a treatment that Tessera, a well-funded startup that is backed by Flagship Pioneering, is developing for the alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Apparently, Regeneron is paying Tessera $150 million, and that too upfront, in the form of cash and also as an equity investment, to collaborate on the program as well as split future development costs along with profits. Tessera could get an extra $125 million in unspecified near- and mid-term development milestone payments.
Tessera, apparently, is going to lead the initial first-in-human trial, and with more funds into gene editing, Regeneron would be taking charge for future development and, at the end of the day, its commercialization.
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, or AATD as it is called, is a rare genetic condition that can go ahead and cause lung and liver disease, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cirrhosis. The disorder is typically caused by a mutation in a gene named SERPINA1 that provides instructions for a protective protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin, or AAT.
The treatment options for AATD are indeed limited, and they do not reverse the existing damage and largely only affect the impact of the disease on the lungs. Because of this, the disease has become a top target as far as the drugmakers are concerned in recent years. There are many companies that are pursuing an array of technological approaches, right from RNA editing to base editing, and some have actually gone on to suffer clinical setbacks.
TSRA-196, – Tessera’s programme is crafted to accurately correct the underlying genetic mutation within AATD, and at the same time, durably restore the production of the AAT protein by way of a one-time treatment. It is also an in vivo gene editing treatment, which goes on to do its work inside the body and not through a laborious process that involves manipulating the cells in a lab.
According to Regeneron’s chief scientific officer, George Yancopoulo, Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is indeed a serious disease that has limited treatment options today and is especially very well suited for the gene editing approach from Tessera. Together along with Tessera, they have an opportunity to pioneer the new frontiers when it comes to genetic medicine and also redefine what is possible as far as AATD patients are concerned.
TSRA-196 is, as of now, in its early research. Tessera presented the preclinical data early in 2025 and also anticipates asking U.S. regulators by the end of 2025 to start the human testing.
Although Regeneron is best known due to Eylea, its eye drug, it has made genetic medicine a focus in recent years. Deals that involve companies such as ViGeneron, Intellia Therapeutics, and Mammoth Biosciences have gone ahead and given the company a pipeline of gene therapy as well as gene-editing medicines. One of those treatments, which is for a rare kind of inherited hearing loss, could very well soon reach the market.
Tessera, on the other hand, is led by Michael Severino, the former AbbVie, and has gone on to raise over half a billion dollars in terms of private funding since the time it started.
