The agreement involves access to early stage ocular programs that fight major diseases using Editas Medicine’s CRISPR gene editing platform. CRISPR treats LCA10, a retinal degenerative disease that can cause blindness in children.
"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," David Nicholson, chief research and development officer for Allergan, said in a statement. "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 is paying $90 million upfront to develop the five candidate programs.
"Allergan has long been a leader in advancing innovative therapies to treat eye diseases," Editas President and CEO Katrine Bosley said.
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