Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Mammoth Biosciences have announced a collaboration aimed at developing CRISPR-based gene editing therapies for multiple tissues and cell types, with the deal worth over $100m upfront plus $370m per target.
The partnership will combine Regeneron’s adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) that use antibody-based targeting to enhance the delivery of genetic medicine payloads with Mammoth’s ultracompact nucleases and associated gene editing systems to create disease-modifying medicines.
“Mammoth’s ultracompact CRISPR systems address the size constraints of viral delivery and complement Regeneron’s targeted AAV technologies,” said Trevor Martin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Mammoth.
Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron will gain access to Mammoth’s editing technologies, other than for certain excluded targets, for five and a half years and will have the option to extend this for an additional two years for a research extension fee.
Both companies will select and research collaboration targets, at which point Regeneron will lead development and commercialisation.
In exchange, Mammoth will receive $100m inclusive of $95m in equity investment and an upfront payment, and will be eligible to receive up to $370m per target in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalty rates on future net sales.
Mammoth will also have the right to opt-in to co-funding and sharing profits on the majority of collaboration programmes instead of receiving milestones and royalties.
Christos Kyratsous, senior vice president and co-head of Regeneron Genetic Medicines at Regeneron, said: “After years spent developing our next-generation delivery approaches, we are eager to combine them with Mammoth’s gene editing systems to better match payload, delivery system and disease type.
“Together, we have the potential to overcome significant delivery hurdles and effectively reach tissues around the body, impact multiple diseases and dramatically increase the number of patients who could benefit from gene editing treatments.”
The partnership comes less than three months after Regeneron said it would be acquiring 2seventy bio’s pipeline of investigational cell therapies, along with its discovery and clinical manufacturing capabilities, for $5m upfront.
The deal, which was completed earlier this month, saw an estimated 160 2seventy employees join Regeneron’s newly launched call medicines business.