Sangamo Therapeutics Q4 2025 Earnings Call - Rolling BLA for ST-920 After Positive STAR Results, Fabry Partnership and Cash Runway Now Central

Operator: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Sangamo Therapeutics fourth quarter and full year 2025 teleconference call. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Louise Wilkie, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Please go ahead.

Louise Wilkie, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the call today. On this call are several members of the Sangamo executive leadership team, including Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Nathalie Dubois-Stringfellow, Chief Development Officer, Nikunj Jain, Interim Chief Financial Officer, and Greg Davis, Head of Research and Technology. Slides from our corporate presentation can be found on our website, sangamo.com, and under the Presentations page of the Investors and Media section. This call includes forward-looking statements regarding Sangamo’s current expectations.

These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to Sangamo’s cash runway, Sangamo’s plans to obtain additional capital and its ability to continue to operate as a going concern, the therapeutic and commercial potential and value of Sangamo’s product candidates and technologies, Sangamo’s ability to establish and maintain collaborations and strategic partnerships, including for its Fabry disease program, the anticipated plans of Sangamo and its collaborators for clinical trials, regulatory submissions and regulatory approvals, and other statements that are not historical fact. Actual results may differ materially from what we discuss today. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as are discussed in our filings with the SEC, specifically in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, and subsequent filings and reports that Sangamo makes from time to time with the SEC.

The forward-looking statements stated today are made as of today, and we undertake no duty to update such information except as required by law. Please note that all forward-looking statements about our future plans and expectations are subject to our ability to secure adequate additional funding. Now, I’ll turn the call over to our CEO, Sandy Macrae.

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you, Louise, and good afternoon to everyone joining the call today. Sangamo continued to make significant pipeline progress in 2025 and into the first quarter of 2026. Set against a backdrop of regulatory and market uncertainty and with limited cash resources, in June, we announced positive top-line results from the registrational STAR study in Fabry disease, including a positive mean annualized estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR, slope at 52 weeks across all dosed patients in the study, which the U.S. FDA reiterated in October 2025 may serve as the primary basis of approval under an accelerated approval pathway. The rolling submission of a Biologics License Application, or BLA, to the FDA is in progress seeking ST-920 approval, Sangamo’s first-ever wholly owned BLA submission.

We transitioned to become a clinical-stage neurology company with six clinical sites activated in the phase I/II STAND study in chronic neuropathic pain. In April, we continued to demonstrate that we’re a collaborator of choice for neurotropic capsids with the announcements of a third neurology capsid license agreement, this time with Eli Lilly, to deliver genomic medicines for up to five central nervous system disease targets. We have raised over $130 million in funding since the start of 2025 through non-dilutive license fees and milestone payments as well as equity financing. These are important achievements and I would like to sincerely thank everyone at Sangamo for their hard work, dedication, and continued focus on our mission to help patients in need.

I would now like to hand directly over to Nathalie Dubois-Stringfellow, our Chief Development Officer, to provide recent business updates from our prioritized pipeline. I will then close the call by summarizing the key broader business takeaways from this quarter. Nathalie.

Nathalie Dubois-Stringfellow, Chief Development Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you, Sandy. First, I am pleased to share updates from our registrational phase I/II STAR study evaluating isaralgagene civaparvovec, or ST-920, our investigational gene therapy for the treatment of adults with Fabry disease. In December, we were happy to initiate the rolling submission of a BLA to the U.S. FDA, seeking approval of ST-920 under an accelerated approval pathway. Rolling submission allows for completed module of the BLA to be submitted and reviewed by the FDA on an ongoing basis rather than waiting for the entire BLA to be submitted at once. We have now submitted both the non-clinical and the clinical modules to the FDA. In addition, the antibody assay companion diagnostic, which is designed to screen patients for eligibility with ST-920, has been submitted to and accepted by the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, or CDRH, seeking pre-market approval.

These are significant milestones for Sangamo and for Fabry patients in need. I would like to sincerely thank everyone at Sangamo involved for their significant efforts in getting us to this point. The next key milestone is completion of the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls or CMC module. We are very pleased to have completed manufacturing and testing of the process validation lots with acceptable results achieved and to have completed method validation. We are also excited to have manufactured our first commercial lot. We are working hard to advance the remaining required activities and anticipate completing submission of the BLA as early as this summer, subject to our ability to secure adequate additional funding. In February, we presented detailed clinical data via four platform and poster presentations in the twenty-second Annual WORLDSymposium that took place in San Diego, California.

We believe this encouraging data continue to demonstrate the potential for the endogenous production of alpha-gal A activity following ST-920 administration to transform the Fabry disease treatment landscape. With a positive mean annualized eGFR slope at one year across all those patients in the study, and at two years for 19 patients, we continue to see improved kidney function, which marks a notable departure from the historical renal decline characteristic of the disease. The stabilization in cardiac function, including stability of cardiac structure and cardiac biomarkers, is also especially encouraging, given that cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in Fabry disease patients. We were pleased to give a platform presentation dedicated entirely to this important topic, showcasing new cardiac specific data.

In addition to a well-tolerated safety profile, the ability to withdraw from enzyme replacement therapy and a range of other clinical benefits, this data continue to demonstrate how ST-920 shows potential as a one-time durable treatment option for Fabry disease that could fundamentally shift the current treatment paradigm. At WORLDSymposium, we also presented platform presentation on pharmacology and immunogenicity outcomes from the STAR study alongside a fertility, embryo fetal development, AAV integration, and germline transmission risk study in mice. All four presentation are available on the Sangamo website. Next, I’d like to focus on our prioritized neurology pipeline, as in December, we were thrilled to receive Fast Track designation for ST-503, our investigational epigenetic regulator for patients, sorry, with intractable pain due to small fiber neuropathy or SFN.

As a reminder, Fast Track designation aims to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new therapeutics that are intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and that demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. Companies granted this Fast Track designation are given the opportunity for more frequent interaction with the FDA. This clinical program may also be eligible to apply for accelerated approval and priority review if relevant criteria are met. SFN is a debilitating chronic pain disorder with limited effective current treatment options. This Fast Track designation underscores the high unmet patient need in SFN and the urgency to develop safe and effective non-opioid treatment alternatives. Since the last update, we have activated an additional four clinical sites in the phase I/II STAND study evaluating ST-503 to achieve a total of six active sites. These sites are working on identifying patients.

Last week, we were also pleased to have a manuscript published in Science Translational Medicine detailing the preclinical safety and pharmacology of ST-503 in human neurons, mice, and non-human primates. These promising results provide the preclinical foundation for our phase I/II STAND study. Finally, moving to ST-506, our epigenetic regulator for the treatment of prion disease to be delivered intravenously using our neurotropic STAC-BBB capsid. This quarter, we continue to advance clinical trial application or CTA-enabling activities. The Good Laboratory Practice or GLP toxicology study has been completed and analysis is ongoing. I would like to hand back to Sandy to provide a broader business and financial update. Sandy?

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you, Nathalie. In closing, in times of regulatory change and careful financial management, we are pleased with the pipeline progress we have made since the start of 2025. A positive top-line readout in our Fabry disease program, alongside continued productive engagement with the FDA, have resulted in a rolling submission of the BLA for ST-920, with the first two modules submitted. We became a clinical-stage neurology company with the initiation of the phase I/II STAND study in SFN, and we received Fast Track designation from the FDA for this program. We have continued to show Sangamo as a collaborator of choice for neurotropic capsids with announcements of our third STAC-BBB license agreement. These are important advancements. However, we will not be satisfied until we solve our long-term cash runway.

Securing a commercial partner for Fabry remains our number one focus, and we continue to engage in Fabry business development discussions with multiple potential partners. Like me, I know many of you feel frustrated that this process is taking so long. Discussions of this nature are complex, and facilitating the extensive due diligence required by potential partners takes time as they assess the regulatory environment for gene therapies. We also continue to seek ways to raise additional capital, including an assessment of all strategic options for each of our assets, and are in discussions with multiple potential partners. Alongside our focused efforts to secure a Fabry commercialization partner, we will share more information as soon as we are able. Operator, please open the line for questions.

Operator: To ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Maury Raycroft with Jefferies. Your line is open.

James, Analyst, Jefferies: Hi, this is James on for Maury. Thanks for taking our questions. Just to start off, can you provide more color on the revised timing for the Fabry BLA submission? What PPQ and other CMC-related activities are the primary gating factors here? Separately, I know you just touched on this, Sandy, but can you comment on the status of the Fabry partnership discussions, whether the same counterparties previously engaged remain in dialogue with Sangamo, and whether recent leadership changes at CBER have had any impact on those discussions? Thanks.

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you, Maury. That’s an important set of questions. When we were given guidance that we could file for accelerated approval with a single study, the clinical data timelines were very clear because the patients were already in the study. We then had to hustle to complete the CMC activity that would normally be performed over phase II and phase III. The CMC has always been the piece that has been on the critical path for our filing. We’ve also had a number of very helpful interactions with the CMC group at the FDA. Most recently, they’ve given us very clear, detailed pages of guidance on what was needed to complete the submission and maximize its chance of success.

Of course, we are following those to the letter and making sure that we do all the right things for CMC, which is often the piece that is most challenging for cell and gene therapies. There’s a third bit that we haven’t spoken about as much, which is we are managing our cash very carefully. We’re managing our spending, and we want to ensure that our runway gives us the best possible time to fulfill a Fabry partnership. That wise, prudent spending combined with the agency’s requirement has just led to the timeline for the CMC being a little longer than it previously was. You asked about the partnerships. We have been talking to people for 18 months, a variety of people.

Most of the ones we spoke to last year have now gone, and many of the times it was because of regulatory uncertainty. We are now speaking to multiple partners and are having good conversations with them. These three are new to the discussions, and so we need to go through the process of due diligence, management presentations, and then negotiations. Maury, trust me, the team are doing everything possible to find the right partner and get this to patients when we are so close to a filing of a medicine that is going to fundamentally change the way Fabry patients are treated.

James, Analyst, Jefferies: Thank you so much. Forget my question. I’ll hop back in the queue.

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone. Again, that is star one one to ask a question. Our next question comes from Patrick Trucchio with H.C. Wainwright. Your line is open.

Luis Santos, Analyst, H.C. Wainwright: Hi, everyone. This is Luis Santos in for Patrick. Thank you for taking our questions. I was wondering if you have had any additional interactions with the FDA recently or have any additional FDA interactions planned, specifically relating to the acceptance of the eGFR slope as a primary endpoint, and if anything has changed given the recent FDA changes? Thanks so much.

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you, Luis. We spoke to the agency last in October of last year and feel that they reiterated that the eGFR at one year could be used to file for accelerated approval. We haven’t gone back to them. It’s always a question of fulfilling what they’ve asked and submitting it, and we’re now halfway through the rolling submission. We’ve submitted the clinical module and the preclinical module. We’ve submitted the companion diagnostic. The CMC is in process, and then there’s a final piece that kind of pulls it all together and gives the full summary. We haven’t...

We don’t plan to go to the agency again because we’re already partway through the process. If the agency changes or their way of dealing with gene therapy changes, we would of course address that. At the moment, we feel we have enough guidance from them to move ahead.

Luis Santos, Analyst, H.C. Wainwright: Thanks so much for the detail. Appreciate it.

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. I’m showing no further questions at this time. Oh, we do have a question from Luca Issi. Your line is open.

Cassie, Analyst: Thanks for taking the question. Thanks, team. This is Cassie for Luca. On prion disease, maybe quickly, you mentioned that this is your first new human trial for STAC-BBB capsid. Does that timeline also account for your partnered programs, that BBB’s clinical proof of concept will be the prion one will be the first seen and your partner’s entrance into clinic are behind that. Related to it, when we look at which programs has the STAC-BBB capsid, is there an aspect of the approach that makes it more suitable for some indication versus others? Or the decision to use the intrathecal AAV9 for neuropathic pain, for example, is just a matter of timing. Thanks so much.

Sandy Macrae, Chief Executive Officer, Sangamo Therapeutics: I’m not sure I understood. I heard all the parts of that, but let me try and answer what I think you were asking. I think you asked why did we use AAV9 for neuropathic pain. That program was started four or five years ago before the STAC-BBB capsid was known. AAV9 is very effective when given intrathecally at dosing the dorsal root ganglion. It would be the logical choice. AAV9 has been used and been seen to be safe and effective. Our STAC-BBB, we’re very pleased, and we’re very pleased to have such eminent neurological companies choosing STAC-BBB and taking it forward. They are fortunate to have great resources and we are working with each one of them to help them to understand the capsid and take it forward.

We feel we have good relationships with all of the three, and we’re encouraged by their enthusiasm to move their programs forward.

Cassie, Analyst: Okay, thanks.

Operator: Thank you. I’m showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back to Louise Wilkie for closing remarks.

Louise Wilkie, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Sangamo Therapeutics: Thank you once again for joining us today and for your questions. As a reminder, you can access our presentation on the investor relations section of the Sangamo website. We look forward to keeping you updated on our future developments.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.