Precision BioSciences and Eli Lilly and Company announced their collaboration in research and their new license agreement. This collaboration and license are for the utilization of Precision’s ARCUS genome editing platform for research on genome editing and to formulate in vivo therapies for genetic disorders. Their focus remains mainly on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) along with two other unrevealed diseases related to genes.
Eli Lilly and Company is a kingpin in the global healthcare industry that is striving to combine care with research to make the lives of people better across the globe. They are true to their age-old mission of providing high-quality medicines to the people who are in need of them.
Precision BioSciences is a leading BT company that is committed to improving lives through their genome editing platform, ARCUS, which ensures safe and controlled delivery of medications.
Through the technology of genome editing, the DNA of living organisms can be altered which can be mainly used to target genetic disorders at their origin. Precision’s ARCUS is a versatile genome editing platform that allows for efficient edits like knock-in, knock-out, and repair of DNA of people. Through this, it enables a collection of therapeutic editing of genes. This platform uses an enzyme called I-Crel, which is an endonuclease that helps edit the genes during editing.
“Gene-editing therapies are emerging as a promising approach to help patients afflicted with genetic conditions. We look forward to working closely with Precision’s scientific team and leveraging their platform to develop and deliver breakthrough medicines for untreated genetic disorders,” says the Vice President of Diabetic and Metabolic research at Lilly.
As per the license agreement, Precision will be receiving $100 million in cash payment and $35 million equity investments in their common stock by Lilly. Other than this, it will be eligible for profits up to $420 million in potential development and royalties on the products. The pre-clinical research will be conducted by Precision and Lilly will be eligible to choose an additional of three gene targets in the collaboration.
“We look forward to working with Lilly to leverage our deep understanding of in vivo gene editing and experience with ARCUS to develop new therapies, including a potentially transformative treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Collaborating with Lilly, a global healthcare leader with strong clinical and commercial experience in difficult-to-treat diseases, will help us accelerate our work aimed to solve genetic diseases with unique editing challenges,” says the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Precision.
The Vice President of New Therapeutic Modalities at Lilly said, “This collaboration with Precision BioSciences represents another milestone in the realization of our vision to create medicines with transformational potential, using new therapeutic modalities such as gene editing to tackle targets and indications that were previously undruggable.”
This will bring about a major development in gene-editing technology and help thousands of people around the world that are suffering from genetic disorders.