Life Science Today 090 – CRISPR Pt 2, Sanofi + Adagene, AbbVie + Syndesi, Atlas
Introduction
Welcome to Life Science Today, your source for stories, insights, and trends across the life science industry. I’m your host, Dr. Noah Goodson. This week, who owns CRISPR, a collaboration, the classics, and more money for Biotech
Disclaimer
The views expressed on Life Science Today are those of the host and guests. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organizations with which they are affiliated.
CRISPR Debates, Patents, and Who Owns Science
Like most great scientific discoveries, there was no eureka moment on the road to CRISPR technology. Instead, a chain of research by dedicated and thoughtful folks in the niche field of bacterial immunology lead to the uncovering a mechanism whereby a Cas9 protein could utilize a guide sequence to target and cleave a precise point in a DNA strand. Fast forward a few years and we can not only make precise cuts, we’ve also have learned to use different Cas proteins for different actions. We’ve learned how to use CRISPR to block a sequence instead of cutting and many more incredible opportunities. Technology like this doesn’t just unlock a single narrow band of potential, it opens a world of incredible experimental possibilities.
CRISPR has moved far past some cool experiments. In some areas of research it’s really reshaping the type of science we can do. Most importantly for the Life Science Industry, it has moved into editing the human genome. But this is where the world turns a little more complex. What’s more fraught then complex biochemistry? Institutional litigation of intellectual property.
Two groups, representing three major institutions debated the patent for CRISPR. Last week, MIT and Harvard were ruled to own certain CRISPR patent rights in humans over UC Berkley. There is a LOT to say about this… no literally, I’ve written and deleted more than 2000 words. But for the sake of you, my dear listener I’m staying mostly on track for what this means for the biotech industry. What it means in function is that several key players in the biotech CRISPR space are now in a challenge patent place. The debate over which institutions own the patent rights to CRISPR in humans has been going on for awhile. Some companies, including Mammoth Bio, and Intellia Therapeutics have obtained patent rights for at least some of their work through UC Berkley. This new ruling means these companies will likely have to renegotiate deals with the Harvard/MIT groups.
CRISPR is a technology, a patentable discovery. It represents hundreds of business opportunities. But it’s also nature, and publicly available science, and transforming the way entire swathes of research are conducted. And while I’m talking about it like a monolith, it’s not. There are now hundreds of critical innovations that specifically shape the application and results of this technology. CRISPR and related innovations will likely directly and indirectly lead to the saving of millions of lives in the next century.
We sit on the cusp of some of the most amazing gene editing work ever accomplished in our species. I mean sit with the fact that we may literally cure diseases permanently with this technology. That’s not hyperbole, we talked about emerged data last week. But we also have to face the fact that even the nonprofit academic institutions that incubated this life saving science have turned it into a debate about which name-brand gets to make more billions. And maybe that should give us all pause.
Sanofi and Adagene Sign Antibody Collaboration
One of the trends in pharma this year is a major reset in a number of pipelines. This has tended to slide toward more collaborations and less of the megabiobucks deals that biotech’s saw in 2020 and early 2021. Sanofi has signed a deal with Adagene for a potential total of $2.5B. Unlike some deals where the eye-catching topline number is the headline, the deal is far more pedestrian in its structure. Not every detail is present in the press release, but reading between like “working with Adagene to design antibodies” it’s clear that this is a collaborative commitment and not a biobucks pipeline buy-in. What does that mean practically? Sanofi is expanding their options through a number of technologies. Adagene becomes another opportunity, through their SAFEbody antibody technology. Without looking behind the curtain it’s hard to see how far this deal will go, but other similar deals result in 1 or 2 early-stage clinical products, although this deal if for up to four. For Sanofi this deal is a mechanism to more deeply understand the underlying technology, while the biotech gets a boost in confidence and a $17.5M upfront payment to subsidize pre-clinical developmental costs.
AbbVie $1B Acquisition of Syndesi
AbbVie has agreed to acquire the Belgian clinical stage biotech Syndesi for a deal valued at a potential $1B. This acquisition stands in stark contrast to our last story. I would almost call it a classic Biobucks deal, if such a thing exists. Syndesi’s lead candidate SDI-118 is a neuropsychiatric treatment with promising phase 1 safety data and potential clinical applications in a variety of conditions in neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer's, major depressive disorder, and other cognitive impairment disorders. The deal gives Syndesi $130M upfront followed by an additional $870M in clinical and developmental milestones. This adds to AbbVie’s growing interest in neurodegeneration with some nice opportunities to advance a modest but promising clinical pipeline.
New $450M Biotech Fund
Through much of 2020 and early 2021 there were new funds raising capital almost every week. The frenzy around funds reflected the much larger investment drive around the industry. But since the end of last year there has been a tapering of new raises. As I keep pointing out, this market is slowed not dead. Atlas Ventures announced they are raising another $450M in a 13th investment raise to drive more VC capital towards biotechs. They’ve been focused on this sector for awhile, in fact, they were on board with a company mentioned earlier in the show that eventually went public in 2016 – Intellia Therapeutics. This latest round will predominately be focused on seed and early-stage investments and expanding their biotech portfolio. It’s worth noting that when biotech funding is a bit more modest, there is an increase in buying power for early-stage investors. New funds like this also mean the 2022 crop of startups won’t see a total drought.
Closing Credits
Thanks for joining me for Life Science Today, your source for stories, insights, and trends across the life science industry. Learn more at LifeScienceTodayPodcast.com. If you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Once again, I’m Dr. Noah Goodson, I’ll see you next week.
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Story References
Sanofi + Adagene
AbbVie + Syndesi
Atlas
About the Show
Life Science Today is your source for stories, insights, and trends across the life science industry. Expect weekly highlights about new technologies, pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions, news about the moves of venture capital and private equity, and how the stock market responds to biotech IPOs. Life Science Today also explores trends around clinical research, including the evolving patterns that determine how drugs and therapies are developed and approved. It’s news, with a dash of perspective, focused on the life science industry.