Scribe Therapeutics, a genetic medicines company unlocking the potential of CRISPR to transform human health, has formed a strategic collaboration with Prevail Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, granting Prevail exclusive rights to Scribe’s CRISPR X-Editing (XE) technologies for the development of in vivo therapies directed to specified targets known to cause serious neurological and neuromuscular diseases.
“We are thrilled to work with the Prevail team to advance potential treatments for patients facing debilitating genetic diseases,” said Benjamin Oakes, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Scribe. “With the compelling in vivo proof-of-principle data we have generated in multiple disease areas, Scribe has validated our X-Editing technologies for industry-leading editing activity, specificity and deliverability. Our goal now is to more broadly enable therapies to help people living with these conditions. We are energized by our team’s progress and excited to begin this important work with Prevail.”
Scribe’s platform, enabled by the company’s proprietary CRISPR by Design™ approach, is the first of its kind, applying holistic engineering to transform bacterial immune systems into therapeutically relevant genome editing technologies targeting the specific needs of patients. The company’s tools for in vivo genome editing directly modify genes within the body, offering several key benefits in safety, efficacy and delivery over existing methods.
Under the terms of the agreement, Scribe will receive $75 million consisting of an upfront payment and equity investment in the form of a convertible note, and is eligible to receive more than $1.5 billion in development and commercial milestone payments. In addition, Prevail will pay research funding and tiered royalties ranging into the low double-digits on net future sales. Scribe also has the right to opt-in to co-fund and share profits in the U.S. on one collaboration program.
