Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine, Inc., (formerly Gengine, Inc.), is a clinical-stage biotechnology company which is developing therapies for rare diseases based on CRISPR gene editing technology.[2][3] Editas headquarters is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has facilities in Boulder, Colorado.[4][5]

History

Editas Medicine was originally founded with the name "Gengine, Inc." in September 2013 by Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute, Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley,[6] and George Church, David Liu, and J. Keith Joung of Harvard University, with funding from Third Rock Ventures, Polaris Partners and Flagship Ventures; the name was changed to the current "Editas Medicine" two months later. Doudna quit in June 2014 over legal differences concerning intellectual property of Cas9.[7][8]

In August 2015, the company raised $120 million in Series B funding from Bill Gates and 13 other investors.[9][10][11][12] it went public on 2 February 2016,[2] via an initial public offering that raised $94 million.[13][14]

The company entered into a strategic collaboration with Juno Therapeutics in 2015 to combine its CRISPR-Cas9 technology with Juno's experience in creating chimeric antigen receptor and high-affinity T cell receptor therapeutics to the end of developing cancer therapeutics.[15] Juno was later acquired by Celgene,[16] which was in turn acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb.[17]

The company announced in 2015 that it was planning a clinical trial in 2017 using CRISPR gene editing techniques to treat Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10), a rare genetic illness that causes blindness.[18][19] On 30 November 2018, the FDA gave permission to start the trials, under the investigational name EDIT-101 (also known as AGN-151587).[20][21] In September 2021, a statement from Editas claimed that preliminary results from clinical trials were promising and support clinical benefits of EDIT-101 treatment.[22]

In March 2020, Editas, in partnership with Allergan, was the first to use CRISPR to try to edit DNA inside a person's body (in vivo). As part of the clinical trial, a patient who was nearly blind as a result of Leber's congenital amaurosis received an intravitreal injection containing a harmless virus carrying CRISPR gene-editing instructions.[23][24] Five months later, Editas reworked its deal with Allergan's owner AbbVie and regained full rights to their range of eye disease treatment therapies, including EDIT-101 for the treatment of LCA10.[25]

In 2019, the company was building new chemistry facilities in Boulder, Colorado.[5]

Katrine Bosley was CEO until 2019, when she was replaced by board member Cynthia Collins.[26][27] Collins was replaced in 2021 by James Mullen, who had been board chairman.[28][29] Gilmore O'Neill, former CMO of Sarepta Therapeutics, became CEO on June 1, 2022, with Mullen staying on as executive chairman of the board.[30] On December 12, 2024, Editas ended the development of reni-cel and laid off 65% of its employees.[31][32]

Research

Editas works with two different CRISPR nucleases, Cas9 and Cas12a.[33]

EDIT-101 is a CRISPR based gene therapy for treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis, which is currently in clinical trials.

EDIT-301 is an experimental potential treatment utilizing the firm's CAS 12a editing technology for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. In 2019 the firm reported early success in research on the drug;.[34][35] In December 2020, it filed an IND application for treatment of sickle cell disease. In January 2021, it said it had received clearance from the FDA for phase 1 safety studies.[36]