ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands, January 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Treeway B.V., founded by entrepreneurs Bernard Muller and Robbert Jan Stuit, both diagnosed with ALS, have announced a collaboration with uniQure N.V., a leading gene therapy company, (NASDAQ: QURE), to develop a gene therapy treatment for ALS.

Under the terms of the licensing and collaboration agreement, uniQure has granted Treeway an exclusive license in this field to uniQure's relevant AAV5 viral vector and GDNF (Glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor) intellectual property. Treeway is responsible for the preclinical and clinical development of the ALS gene therapy treatment. uniQure will provide Treeway with its manufacturing capabilities and will further collaborate with Treeway on ALS gene therapy development. Treeway and uniQure will jointly commercialize any resulting ALS gene therapy with defined geographical rights for commercialization assigned to each company. Financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed.

Inez de Greef, CEO of Treeway, is very pleased about this licensing, collaboration, and co-marketing agreement as it represents a major milestone in executing its mission to develop ALS therapy.  "Gene therapy is an innovative and viable technology for developing an ALS therapy and has the potential to change the disease course of ALS. A collaboration between Treeway and uniQure will accelerate this development by bringing two unique companies together," says Ms. de Greef.

Jörn Aldag, CEO of uniQure, adds: "We are impressed by the immense energy and will power of the Treeway founders in seeking a cure for ALS. We believe that by combining their disease know-how and uniQure's gene therapy platform and expertise, we can jointly achieve a step forward in the way ALS is treated in the future."

Note for the editor

about ALS
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a relentless progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, disability and eventually death, with a median survival of three years. To date, there is no cure for ALS.

uniQure
uniQure is delivering on the promise of gene therapy, single treatments with potentially curative results. We have developed a modular platform to rapidly bring new disease modifying therapies to patients with severe disorders. Our approach is validated by multiple partnerships and the regulatory approval of our lead product Glybera. http://www.uniQure.com

Treeway B.V.
Treeway is a biotechnology company and has been founded by entrepreneurs Bernard Muller and Robbert Jan Stuit, both diagnosed with ALS.  Treeway's strategy is founded on a cohesive combination of approaches that together should provide the highest likelihood of bringing successful treatments for ALS to the patient in the short term.

For questions and more information about Treeway, please contact via Inez de Greef info@treeway.nl  or http://www.treeway.nl / +31-10-298-88-88.

SOURCE Treeway B.V.