Cell and gene therapy biotech ElevateBio said it has acquired AgBiome Delta’s shares of Life Edit Therapeutics, which it says has a powerful suite of gene editing technologies that have the potential for any genomic sequence of interest to be removed, added, or altered.
Photo: Mitchell Finer, CEO of Life Edit and president, R&D of ElevateBio
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Life Edit holds one of the world’s largest and most diverse arrays of novel RNA-guided nucleases and base editors that offer greater specificity and broad genome access. These nucleases were derived from AgBiome’s proprietary non-pathogenic microbe collection, which could potentially reduce immunogenicity risks.
“ElevateBio’s powerful suite of enabling technologies, which now includes Life Edit’s genome editing capabilities as well as our existing iPSC, viral vector, and cell engineering platforms, is designed to disrupt the rapidly advancing fields of cell and gene therapy,” said David Hallal, chairman and CEO of ElevateBio. “Our vision is to build a world-class center of excellence in genome engineering to push the boundaries of therapeutic development and drive innovation for our own therapeutic pipeline as well as provide access to these critical technologies to our growing number of industry partners.”
ElevatBio says Life Edit has one of the world’s largest and most diverse arrays of novel RNA-guided nucleases and base editors active in mammalian cells, developed from a proprietary collection of non-pathogenic organisms, and offer gene editing tools with higher fidelity, novel functionality, reduced immune response risk, and easier delivery. The company was spun out of AgBiome in October 2020 and AgBiome continues to retain rights for gene editing outside of human therapeutics.
“Genome editing is a central component of all cell and gene therapy development, and access to novel RNA-guided nucleases and base editors that offer specificity and broad genome coverage will be critical. We believe Life Edit’s technology is one of the most versatile in the field, opening up enormous potential,” Mitchell Finer, CEO of Life Edit and president, R&D of ElevateBio. “This integration will also enable Life Edit to have greater access to ElevateBio’s drug development and manufacturing capabilities as we build and advance the pipeline, which will initially focus on developing in vivo gene therapies to address neurologic conditions with high unmet need. In addition, by combining Life Edit’s gene engineering capabilities with ElevateBio’s iPSC technology, our goal is to expand the number of therapeutic uses, including potentially making universal or hypoimmune cells that go undetected by the immune system.”
Author: Rare Daily Staff
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