GRPH - Novo Nordisk in pact with Life Edit Therapeutics for gene editing

2023-05-24 07:24:00 ET

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) has partnered with U.S.-based biotech Life Edit Therapeutics to discover and develop gene editing treatments targeted at rare and cardiometabolic diseases, the companies announced Wednesday.

Under the partnership, two companies will focus on advancing up to seven programs using base editing technology, a more precise gene editing method designed to reduce the risk of off-target effects.

“The advancements we’ve made to our next-generation gene editing platform and base editing capabilities are opening the next frontier of treating disease through DNA editing,” Mitchell Finer, chief executive of Life Edit, said.

Per the terms, the Danish drugmaker will meet the R&D expenses, and Life Edit is entitled to an upfront cash payment and milestone payments worth $250 - $335M for each of the seven development programs.

Life Edit will also receive tiered royalties based on global net sales of future products and have the option to share global profits on one program.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) has also agreed to make an equity investment in ElevateBio, the parent company of Life Edit, as part of a $401M Series D financing round.

Gene editing stocks: Apellis Pharmaceuticals ( APLS ), Beam Therapeutics ( BEAM ), CRISPR Therapeutics ( CRSP ), Precision BioSciences ( DTIL ), Editas Medicine ( EDIT ), Intellia Therapeutics ( NTLA ), Graphite Bio ( GRPH ), Verve Therapeutics ( VERV )

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