Allergan And Editas Medicine Enter Into R&D Alliance
By Bio-IT World Staff
March 15, 2017 | Allergan and Editas Medicine have announced that Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited, Allergan’s wholly-owned subsidiary, and Editas Medicine have entered into a strategic research and development alliance under which Allergan will receive exclusive access and the option to license up to five of Editas Medicine’s genome-editing ocular programs, including its lead program for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA10), which is currently in pre-clinical development.
The agreement covers early stage, first-in-class ocular programs targeting serious diseases based on Editas Medicine’s CRISPR genome editing platform, including CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cpf1. Editas Medicine’s lead program is being developed for the potential treatment of LCA10, a rare, inherited retinal degenerative disease that appears in childhood and leads to blindness.
“The CRISPR genome editing platform holds the potential to transform the treatment of many genetic and non-genetically derived diseases, including diseases and conditions of the eye,” said David Nicholson, Allergan’s Chief Research and Development Officer, in a statement. “The Allergan team is excited to work with colleagues at Editas Medicine to develop and potentially deliver game-changing treatment for retinal diseases like LCA10. This program is highly complementary to our ongoing eye care development programs where unmet medical need exists for patients.”
“The relationship is exclusive to Allergan in ophthalmology for the research term,” Katrine Bosley, CEO at Editas Medicine, said in a press conference. “This gives us the opportunity to find meaningful products in the field during the course of the research term.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Editas Medicine will receive an upfront payment of $90 million for the development of five candidate programs. Editas Medicine has the potential to earn additional payments for achieving important near-term milestones specifically related to LCA10. Allergan will have the option to license up to five programs under the agreement and will be responsible for development and commercialization of the optioned products, subject to Editas' option right to co-develop and co-promote up to two optioned products in the United States. Editas Medicine will also be eligible to receive development and commercial milestones, as well as royalty payments on a per-program basis.