Italy's Chiesi Farmaceutici has stepped up with a commercialization pact on uniQure's Glybera, the West's first approved gene therapy, as well as a development deal on an experimental program for hemophilia B. Chiesi is paying $22 million for the collaboration along with $18 million in equity financing. And an $18 million investment led by Coller Capital is being converted into equity. Glybera was approved in Europe for the treatment of the orphan disease lipoprotein lipase deficiency. "The agreement with Chiesi is a key component of our strategy to rapidly develop and commercialize multiple gene therapy based treatments as well as being a validation of our technology platform," said Jörn Aldag, CEO of uniQure. Release