Beam to Receive $250 Million in Combined Upfront Payment and Equity Investment, Expected to Extend Beam’s Cash Runway to the Second Half of 2026
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I October 31, 2023 IBeam Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, today announced that Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) has agreed to acquire certain rights under Beam’s amended collaboration and license agreement with Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (Verve), including Beam’s opt-in rights to co-develop and co-commercialize Verve’s base editing programs for cardiovascular disease, which includes programs targeting PCSK9, ANGPTL3 and an undisclosed liver-mediated, cardiovascular target.
Under the terms of the agreement, Beam will receive a $200 million upfront payment and $50 million equity investment. Beam is also eligible to receive up to $350 million in potential future development-stage payments upon the completion of certain clinical, regulatory and alliance events for a total of up to $600 million in potential total deal consideration.
“As the pioneers in base editing, we’ve had a long-standing vision of enabling a wide range of disease-modifying therapies based on precision genome editing. Our strategy to achieve this has been to advance a diversified portfolio of wholly owned programs, continue to innovate in our platform, and establish creative partnerships that expand the reach of base editing and drive both near- and long-term value creation. Our initial collaboration with Verve and this new transaction with Lilly are exemplary of our execution of that strategy,” said John Evans, chief executive officer of Beam. “This deal provides meaningful upfront capital to advance our portfolio of clinical- and research-stage programs, with significant additional value achievable as the Verve programs advance through development. In parallel, it provides Verve with a world-class partner for the long term, given Lilly’s deep expertise and resources in the cardiovascular space. We are excited to see the broad therapeutic potential of base editing fully realized through our pipeline and through the programs enabled by our past and future collaborations.”
“Base editing represents a potentially important new therapeutic approach for a wide range of diseases,” said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., group vice president, diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research at Lilly. “This agreement expands the scope of Lilly’s ongoing relationship with Verve and gives us exposure to the full breadth of potential with Beam’s base editing platform. We believe that single-course gene editing treatments could be a compelling new therapeutic option for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease, and we look forward to working with Verve toward that goal.”
About Beam Therapeutics
Beam Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BEAM) is a biotechnology company committed to establishing the leading, fully integrated platform for precision genetic medicines. To achieve this vision, Beam has assembled a platform that includes a suite of gene editing and delivery technologies and is in the process of building internal manufacturing capabilities. Beam’s suite of gene editing technologies is anchored by base editing, a proprietary technology that is designed to enable precise, predictable and efficient single base changes, at targeted genomic sequences, without making double-stranded breaks in the DNA. This has the potential to enable a wide range of potential therapeutic editing strategies that Beam is using to advance a diversified portfolio of base editing programs. Beam is a values-driven organization committed to its people, cutting-edge science, and a vision of providing life-long cures to patients suffering from serious diseases.
SOURCE: Beam Therapeutics
Post Views: 215
Beam to Receive $250 Million in Combined Upfront Payment and Equity Investment, Expected to Extend Beam’s Cash Runway to the Second Half of 2026
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I October 31, 2023 IBeam Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, today announced that Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) has agreed to acquire certain rights under Beam’s amended collaboration and license agreement with Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (Verve), including Beam’s opt-in rights to co-develop and co-commercialize Verve’s base editing programs for cardiovascular disease, which includes programs targeting PCSK9, ANGPTL3 and an undisclosed liver-mediated, cardiovascular target.
Under the terms of the agreement, Beam will receive a $200 million upfront payment and $50 million equity investment. Beam is also eligible to receive up to $350 million in potential future development-stage payments upon the completion of certain clinical, regulatory and alliance events for a total of up to $600 million in potential total deal consideration.
“As the pioneers in base editing, we’ve had a long-standing vision of enabling a wide range of disease-modifying therapies based on precision genome editing. Our strategy to achieve this has been to advance a diversified portfolio of wholly owned programs, continue to innovate in our platform, and establish creative partnerships that expand the reach of base editing and drive both near- and long-term value creation. Our initial collaboration with Verve and this new transaction with Lilly are exemplary of our execution of that strategy,” said John Evans, chief executive officer of Beam. “This deal provides meaningful upfront capital to advance our portfolio of clinical- and research-stage programs, with significant additional value achievable as the Verve programs advance through development. In parallel, it provides Verve with a world-class partner for the long term, given Lilly’s deep expertise and resources in the cardiovascular space. We are excited to see the broad therapeutic potential of base editing fully realized through our pipeline and through the programs enabled by our past and future collaborations.”
“Base editing represents a potentially important new therapeutic approach for a wide range of diseases,” said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., group vice president, diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research at Lilly. “This agreement expands the scope of Lilly’s ongoing relationship with Verve and gives us exposure to the full breadth of potential with Beam’s base editing platform. We believe that single-course gene editing treatments could be a compelling new therapeutic option for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease, and we look forward to working with Verve toward that goal.”
About Beam Therapeutics
Beam Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BEAM) is a biotechnology company committed to establishing the leading, fully integrated platform for precision genetic medicines. To achieve this vision, Beam has assembled a platform that includes a suite of gene editing and delivery technologies and is in the process of building internal manufacturing capabilities. Beam’s suite of gene editing technologies is anchored by base editing, a proprietary technology that is designed to enable precise, predictable and efficient single base changes, at targeted genomic sequences, without making double-stranded breaks in the DNA. This has the potential to enable a wide range of potential therapeutic editing strategies that Beam is using to advance a diversified portfolio of base editing programs. Beam is a values-driven organization committed to its people, cutting-edge science, and a vision of providing life-long cures to patients suffering from serious diseases.
SOURCE: Beam Therapeutics
Post Views: 215
