Lilly, Scribe team up for neuro diseases CRISPR therapies in $75M upfront cash/equity deal
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Scribe Therapeutics is collaborating with Eli Lilly's unit (NYSE:LLY) Prevail Therapeutics and granted rights to its CRISPR X-Editing (XE) technologies to develop in vivo therapies for neurological and neuromuscular diseases.
Under the agreement, Alameda, Calif.-based Scribe will get $75M consisting of an upfront payment and equity investment in the form of a convertible note, and is eligible to receive more than $1.5B in development and commercial milestone payments.
In addition, Prevail will pay research funding and royalties on future sales.
Privately held Scribe also has the right to opt-in to co-fund and share profits in the U.S. on one collaboration program, according to the company.
Scribe said its proprietary CRISPR by Design approach is the first of its kind and applies holistic engineering to transform bacterial immune systems into therapeutically relevant genome editing technologies. The company's tools for in vivo genome editing directly modify genes in the body, providing benefits in safety, efficacy and delivery over existing methods.
"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," said Scribe CEO Benjamin Oakes.
Scribe already has a collaboration with Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) to develop CRISPR-based therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).