DUBLIN and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March
14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 the 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:
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Allergan:
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Editas
Medicine:
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Investors:
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Investors:
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Lisa
DeFrancesco
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Mark
Mullikin
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(862)
261-7152
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(617)
401-9083
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Karina
Calzadilla
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(862) 261-
7328
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Media:
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Mark
Marmur
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Cristi
Barnett
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(862)
261-7558
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(617)
401-0113
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Dan Budwick, Pure
Communications
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(973)
271-6085
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allergan-and-editas-medicine-enter-into-strategic-rd-alliance-to-discover-and-develop-crispr-genome-editing-medicines-for-eye-diseases-300423162.html
SOURCE Allergan plc; Editas Medicine, Inc.