Prime Medicine will work alongside Harvard University-founded Beam Therapeutics to commercialise Broad Institute faculty vice-chair David Liu's single-base DNA editing inventions.
Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University today unveiled US-based spinout Prime Medicine to commercialise novel gene-editing techniques.
Prime Medicine will develop prime gene-editing technology – tools which enable geneticists to identify and replace pieces of genetic code – under a licence and collaboration agreement with precision medicine developer Beam Therapeutics, itself spun out from Harvard University.
The technology will advance research conducted by a team under David Liu, vice-chair of the faculty at Broad Institute, who believe their gene-editing approach is capable of modifying a single DNA base – the scientific term for a unitary genetic strand.
The hope is that this could form the basis for tackling single-base genetic deviations known as transition mutations, which Prime expects to be highly responsive to gene editing, and which account for a significant disease population.
Prime will also target additional indications such as sickle cell disease, a group of inheritable blood disorders that includes sickle cell anaemia, a fatigue-inducing condition caused by depleted red blood cells and haemoglobin.
Under the collaboration agreement, Beam Therapeutics has the right to appoint a representative on Prime’s board of directors.
Both parties will exchange non-exclusive licences to certain Crispr-based editing technologies, and Beam will also provide what is described as “initial interim leadership” for a one-year term.
