Editas Medicine, a clinical-stage gene editing company, and Genevant Sciences, a nucleic acid delivery company with world-class platforms and a robust lipid nanoparticle (LNP) patent portfolio, have entered into a collaboration and nonexclusive license agreement to combine Editas Medicine’s CRISPR Cas12a genome editing systems with Genevant’s proprietary LNP technology in the development of in vivo gene editing medicines directed to two undisclosed targets in Editas’ upregulation strategy.
“Editas has made significant strides to achieve our vision of becoming a leader in in vivo programmable gene editing medicine, and we are making strong progress towards the clinic as we develop our pipeline of future medicines,” said Linda C. Burkly, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Editas Medicine. “As we investigated the delivery landscape to identify systems for our in vivo upregulation strategy that would best complement our gene editing technology, we quickly identified Genevant, an established leader in the LNP space, and we are delighted to launch this collaboration.”
“We are thrilled to be working with Editas, a gene editing pioneer, to develop potentially transformative gene editing treatments,” said James Heyes, Chief Scientific Officer of Genevant Sciences. “LNPs have emerged as a preferred approach for delivering gene editing constructs, and we are excited by the promise of combining our industry-leading LNP technology with Editas’s innovation in this burgeoning field.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Genevant has granted to Editas a nonexclusive worldwide license under certain Genevant LNP technology to exploit mRNA-CRISPR Cas12a-LNP products directed to two undisclosed targets for specified fields. Genevant is eligible to receive up to $238 millionin upfront and contingent milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on future product sales.
