Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Intellia Therapeutics Inc. have announced an expanded research collaboration aimed at developing further CRISPR-based gene-editing therapies focused on neurological and muscular diseases. According to an Intellia press release, the expanded partnership aims to combine Regeneron’s proprietary adeno-associated viral vectors and antibody-targeted delivery systems with Intellia’s proprietary Nme2 CRISPR/Cas9 systems tailored to the delivery of viral vectors that modify targeted genes. Under the terms of a recently expanded agreement, the companies will initially pursue two non-hepatic targets in vivo, with Intellia leading the design of the editing methodology while Regeneron will lead the design of the targeted viral vector delivery approach. According to the press release, the agreement further stipulates that each partner may lead the potential development and commercialization of product candidates for a target, while the company not leading development and commercialization may enter into a co-development and co-commercialization agreement for that target.
