Genentech struck a $1.27 billion deal with Alector to bring AL050, a preclinical enzyme replacement therapy targeting GCase deficiency, into its hands for global development. Genentech paid $100 million upfront for exclusive worldwide rights, with Alector eligible for up to $1.17 billion in milestones. AL050 is designed for brain delivery using Alector’s proprietary “Brain Carrier” technology intended to cross the blood–brain barrier, pairing an engineered glucocerebrosidase (GCase) enzyme with that delivery system. The program is aimed at patients with glucocerebrosidase deficiency most pronounced in carriers of GBA1 mutations, where impaired GCase activity is linked to lipid buildup and neurodegeneration. Alector also signaled it will redeploy financing: beyond funding AL050 activities, the company plans to use capital to advance its subcutaneously delivered anti-amyloid beta antibody in multi-cohort Alzheimer’s data and to move tau and alpha-synuclein siRNA programs into IND-enabling studies. The transaction highlights how large pharma continues to expand neurology platforms through enzymatic, brain-delivery modalities.