April 8, 2026 —
Dyno Therapeutics announced that Astellas Pharma has exercised its option to license a novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid engineered for therapeutic delivery to skeletal muscle, under the companies’ research collaboration established in 2021. Under the agreement, Dyno will receive a $15 million license fee and is eligible for development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties on future products.
The agreement marks Dyno’s first licensed muscle-targeting capsid and the second capsid licensed from its AI-powered design platform, following Roche’s decision in January 2025 to license an AI-designed capsid targeting central nervous system (CNS) diseases. With these deals, Dyno has become the first company to successfully license AI-designed AAV capsids for both CNS and muscle gene therapy applications.
Delivering gene therapies to muscle tissue has historically presented major challenges. Wild-type AAV capsids typically require very high doses to achieve sufficient muscle transduction, which can increase safety risks and significantly raise manufacturing costs. These limitations have slowed development across multiple muscle-targeted gene therapy programs.
Dyno addresses this challenge using artificial intelligence–driven capsid engineering. Instead of relying on traditional approaches such as rational design or directed evolution alone, the company applies machine learning models trained on billions of in vivo measurements to design capsid sequences predicted to deliver improved performance.
According to Dyno, the licensed capsid demonstrated superior skeletal muscle targeting in nonhuman primate studies. Importantly, the vector also retains compatibility with AAV9-based manufacturing processes, enabling scalable production using existing gene therapy manufacturing infrastructure.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Astellas will lead all preclinical, clinical, and commercialization activities for gene therapy programs using the licensed capsid. Dyno will receive the upfront payment and remain eligible for downstream milestones and royalties tied to product development and commercialization.
The milestone reflects growing interest in AI-driven vector engineering, as gene therapy developers seek improved delivery systems capable of targeting challenging tissues while enabling lower therapeutic doses and improved safety profiles.
If successful, next-generation capsids designed using artificial intelligence could help address some of the most persistent barriers in the gene therapy field, including tissue specificity, dose limitations, and manufacturing scalability.
