Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine is a clinical-stage biotechnology company which is developing therapies based on CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing technology.[2][3] Editas is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has facilities in Boulder, Colorado.[4][5] It was founded in 2013 with funding from Third Rock Ventures, Polaris Partners and Flagship Ventures and licensed CRISPR patents from the Broad Institute's Feng Zhang, patents from Harvard's David Liu and George Church and patents from Partners Healthcare-MGH's J. Keith Joung. These four were co-founders and scientific advisory board members along with Jennifer Doudna.[6][7]

Editas Medicine
TypePublic
NASDAQ: EDIT
Russell 2000 Component
Industry
FoundedNovember 2013 (2013-11) in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Headquarters
Cambridge, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
Cynthia Collins (President and CEO)
James C. Mullen (Chairman)
Total assetsUS$508,885,000 (2019)
Total equityUS$262,437,000 (2019)
Number of employees
208[1] (2020)
Websitewww.editasmedicine.com

History

In August 2015, the company raised $120 million in Series B funding from Bill Gates and 13 other investors.[8][9][10] Editas went public on 2 February 2016.[2] The IPO raised $94 million.[11][12]

The company entered into a strategic collaboration with Juno Therapeutics in 2015 to combine its CRISPR-Cas9 technology with Juno's experience in creating chimeric antigen receptor and high-affinity T cell receptor therapeutics to the end of developing cancer therapeutics.[13] Juno was later acquired by Celgene,[14] which was in turn acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb.[15]

The company announced in 2015 that it was planning a clinical trial in 2017 using CRISPR gene editing techniques to treat Leber's congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10), a rare genetic illness that causes blindness.[16][7] On 30 November 2018, the FDA gave permission to start clinical trials for the drug, under the investigational name EDIT-101 (also known as AGN-151587).[17][18] In March 2020, Editas, in partnership with Allergan, was the first to use CRISPR to try to edit DNA inside a person's body (in vivo). As part of the clinical trial, a patient who was nearly blind as a result of Leber's congenital amaurosis received an intravitreal injection containing a harmless virus carrying CRISPR gene-editing instructions.[19][20] Five months later, Editas reworked its deal with Allergan's owner AbbVie and regained full rights to their range of eye disease treatment therapies, including EDIT-101 for the treatment of LCA10.[21]

CEO Katrine Bosley stepped down in 2019 and was replaced by board member Cynthia Collins.[22][23] Also in 2019, the company was building a new facility in Boulder, Colorado.[5]

In January 2020, Editas Medicine appointed Michelle Robertson as the company's Chief Financial Officer.[24]

In January 2021, Charles Albright stepped down from his role as Chief Scientific Officer [25]

Research

Editas works with two distinct CRISPR nucleases, Cas9 and Cas12a.[26]

EDIT-101

EDIT-101 is a CRISPR based gene therapy for treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis, which is currently in clinical trials.

EDIT-301

Editas claimed in 2019 that it had found early success in research on EDIT-301, an experimental cell-based medicine, as a potential treatment for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.[27][28]

References
  1. "Form 10-K". Editas Medicine. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  2. "The week in science: 5–11 February 2016". Nature. 530 (7589). Business: CRISPR goes public. 10 Feb 2016. doi:10.1038/530134a.
  3. "Editas Wins FDA Approval for IND of CRISPR Treatment for LCA10". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  4. Werley, Jensen (5 September 2019). "How Boulder biotech companies are putting Colorado on the gene-editing map". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  5. Symington, Steve (20 August 2020). "Editas Medicine Remains on Track". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  6. John Carroll (Nov 25, 2013). "Biotech pioneer in 'gene editing' launches with $43M in VC cash". FierceBiotech.
  7. Regalado, Antonio (2015-11-05). "CRISPR Gene Editing to Be Tested on People by 2017, Says Editas". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  8. "Bill Gates among investors in $120m Series B round for gene-editing start-up". AltAssets. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  9. Nowogrodzki, Anna (10 August 2015). "Gene-Editing Startup Raises $120 Million to Apply CRISPR to Medicine". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  10. Loria, Kevin (12 April 2018). "Bill Gates says it would be a 'tragedy' to pass up a controversial, revolutionary gene-editing technology". Business Insider.
  11. Pflanzer, Lydia (2 February 2016). "A Bill Gates-backed startup that wants to edit your genes just raised nearly $100 million". Business Insider.
  12. Fidler, Ben (2 February 2016). "CRISPR Hits Wall Street as Editas Bags $94M in IPO". Xconomy. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  13. "Juno, Editas Launch Up-to-$737M+ Cancer Therapy Collaboration". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
  14. Lombardo, Cara (2018-01-22). "Celgene to Buy Juno Therapeutics for $9 Billion". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  15. Bristol-Myers Squibb Completes Acquisition of Celgene, Creating a Leading Biopharma Company, PM BMS, November 20, 2019; retrieved May 20, 2020
  16. Kuchler, Hannah (6 January 2020). "Crispr puts first human in-body gene editing to test". Financial Times.
  17. "First CRISPR therapy dosed". Nature. 7 April 2020. doi:10.1038/s41587-020-0493-4. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  18. Sheridan, Cormac (14 December 2018). "Go-ahead for first in-body CRISPR medicine testing". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41587-018-00003-2. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  19. Stein, Rob (4 March 2020). "In A 1st, Scientists Use Revolutionary Gene-Editing Tool To Edit Inside A Patient". NPR. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  20. Terry, Mark (4 March 2020). "Allergan and Editas Dose First Patient in Historic CRISPR Trial for Inherited Blindness". BioSpace. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  21. Fidler, Ben (7 August 2020). "Editas, AbbVie rework gene editing deal as pioneering CRISPR trial resumes". BioPharma Dive. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  22. Dearment, Alaric (22 January 2019). "Editas Medicine CEO steps down as company moves into product development stage". MedCity News. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  23. DeAngelis, Allison (6 August 2019). "Editas picks Cindy Collins as permanent CEO". Boston Business Journal.
  24. "Editas Medicine (EDIT) announces appointment of Michelle Robertson as CFO". StreetInsider.com. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  25. https://endpts.com/editas-medicines-science-head-albright-leaves-for-new-job-just-as-biotech-gets-trial-clearance-for-sickle-cell-therapy
  26. Lacey, Elena (6 August 2019). "A New Startup Wants to Use Crispr to Diagnose Disease". Wired.
  27. Rees, Victoria (20 June 2019). "Experimental treatment for sickle cell disease success". Drug Target Review. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  28. Wong, Sandi (10 December 2019). "Editas shows better gene editing using Cas9 alternative for sickle cell, thalassemia". BioCentury. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
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