– Brings Together Eye Care and CRISPR Innovators
to Develop Transformative Medicines for Patients –
Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company,
and Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT), a leading genome editing
company, today announced that Allergan’s wholly-owned subsidiary,
Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited, 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 unparalleled 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, Chief Research and Development
Officer, Allergan. “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.”
“Allergan has long been a leader in advancing
innovative therapies to treat eye diseases,” said Katrine Bosley,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine.
“Working together with Allergan through their Open Science R&D
model significantly enhances our ability to develop genome editing
medicines to help patients with serious eye diseases. This alliance
is highly aligned with our strategy to build our company for the
long-term and to realize the broad potential of our genome editing
platform to treat serious diseases.”
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short
Palindromic Repeats) is a dynamic, versatile tool that can be
programmed to target specific stretches of genetic code and edit
DNA at precise locations in the human genome. The technology allows
researchers to permanently modify genes and has the potential to
create medicines with a durable treatment effect.
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.
Conference Call Information
Editas Medicine and Allergan will host a
conference call on Tuesday, March 14, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. ET to
discuss this alliance. To access the call, please dial (877)
809-6321 (domestic) or (615) 247-0223 (international) and provide
the passcode 88272560. A live webcast of the call will be
available on the Investors & Media section of the Editas
Medicine website at www.editasmedicine.com, and a replay
will be available approximately two hours after its completion.
About the CRISPR Genome Editing
Technology
The CRISPR technology targets specific stretches
of genetic code and allows editing of DNA at precise locations in
the human genome. Cas9 and Cpf1 are both enzyme/guide RNA complexes
that use traditional RNA/DNA base-pairing to precisely locate
specific DNA sequences with the goal of modifying or ‘editing’ a
disease-associated or therapeutic genomic location. By changing the
composition of the guide RNA, the Cas9 or Cpf1 nuclease complex can
be reprogrammed to target different DNA sequences and can be
engineered to perform a wide range of genome editing functions,
including ‘cutting and removing’, ‘cutting and revising’, and
‘cutting and replacing’ genomic sequences. In this way, genome
editing has the potential to treat a broad range of
genetically-defined and genetically-treatable diseases.
About Leber Congenital
Amaurosis
Leber Congenital Amaurosis, or LCA, is a group
of inherited retinal dystrophies caused by mutations in at least 18
different genes. It is the most common cause of inherited childhood
blindness, with an incidence of two to three per 100,000 live
births worldwide. Symptoms of LCA appear within the first year of
life, resulting in significant vision loss and blindness. The most
common form of the disease, referred to as LCA10, is a monogenic
disorder caused by mutations in the CEP290 gene and represents
approximately 20‑30 percent of all LCA subtypes.
About Allergan plc
Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN), headquartered in
Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company.
Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and
commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, devices and biologic
products for patients around the world.
Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands
and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye
care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women’s
health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.
Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science,
the Company’s R&D model, which defines our approach to
identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for
better patient care. This approach has led to Allergan building one
of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical
industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs in
development.
Our Company’s success is powered by our more
than 16,000 global colleagues’ commitment to being Bold for Life.
Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results
for our customers and patients around the world by always doing
what is right.
With commercial operations in approximately 100
countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians,
healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and
meaningful treatments that help people around the world live
longer, healthier lives every day.
For more information, visit Allergan’s website
at www.Allergan.com.
About Editas Medicine
Editas Medicine is a leading genome editing
company dedicated to treating patients with genetically-defined
diseases by correcting their disease-causing genes. The Company was
founded by world leaders in genome editing, and its mission is to
translate the promise of genome editing science into a broad class
of transformative genomic medicines to benefit the greatest number
of patients.
Allergan Forward-Looking
Statements
Statements contained in this press release that
refer to future events or other non-historical facts are
forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current
perspective of existing trends and information as of the date of
this release. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan
disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking
statements. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's
current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting
Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the
difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or
actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing;
market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products;
difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and
uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited
to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2016. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan
disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking
statements.
Editas Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements and information within the meaning of The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words
‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’
‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘potential,’’
‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘target,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘would,’’ and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain
these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve
the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these
forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events
could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations
disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of
various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the
initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical
trials and clinical development of the Company’s product
candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical
studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a
clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial
or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory
approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability
of funding sufficient for the Company’s foreseeable and
unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure
requirements. These and other risks are described in greater
detail under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the
Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the
future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this
press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company
expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
CONTACTS: |
|
Allergan: |
Editas
Medicine: |
Investors: |
Investors: |
Lisa DeFrancesco
|
Mark Mullikin |
(862) 261-7152 |
(617) 401-9083 |
|
|
Karina Calzadilla |
|
(862) 261- 7328 |
|
|
|
|
|
Media: |
|
Mark Marmur |
Cristi Barnett |
(862) 261-7558 |
(617) 401-0113 |
|
|
Dan Budwick, Pure
Communications |
|
(973) 271-6085 |
Allergan (NYSE:AGN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Allergan (NYSE:AGN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024