Covington Advises on $130 Million Investment in Ascend Gene & Cell Therapies

LONDON—Covington advised lead investors Abingworth and other syndicate members on their participation in Ascend’s $130 million Series A fundraise.

Ascend will use the $130 million to launch as a facilitator for gene therapy companies to help translate product ideas into viable clinical programs.

Ascend is a specialist company innovating manufacturing processes to improve quality, potency, safety and cost enabling better reach for gene therapy technologies. Initially focused on high-quality Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, Ascend brings together a team of approximately 120 cross-functional experts who have already developed processes for a number of AAV products currently under clinical development.

The Covington team was led by James Halstead and included Flora Johnson and Trudy Dargeviciute (corporate), Geraldine Pelfreman-Pigot (real estate), Robin Blaney (life sciences regulatory), Winsome Cheung (IP and licensing) and Antonio Michaelides (employment).