Editas Medicine and MaxCyte Announce Clinical and Commercial License Agreement for Engineered Cell Medicines

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, and MaxCyte, Inc., the global cell-based therapies and life sciences company, today announced a new clinical and commercial license agreement. Editas Medicine will use MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation^® technology and ExPERT™ instruments for the advancement of engineered cell medicines, including EDIT-301, an experimental CRISPR medicine designed to durably treat sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.

Under the terms of the agreement, Editas Medicine obtains non-exclusive clinical and commercial use rights to MaxCyte's cell engineering platform to develop up to five therapies including four immuno-oncology therapies, and in return MaxCyte will receive development and approval milestones and sales-based payments in addition to other licensing fees.

“We look forward to working with MaxCyte and using its leading technology to develop EDIT-301 as a best-in-class medicine for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, and for up to four engineered cell medicines to treat cancer,” said Charles Albright, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Editas Medicine.

“We are excited to work with Editas Medicine as it is at the forefront of developing engineered cell medicines that have the potential to change the course of disease for many patients. This agreement is also a significant business milestone for MaxCyte as we continue to invest in our technology platform and help support companies at the leading edge of cell therapy and gene editing to develop medicines for patients in need,” said Doug Doerfler, President & CEO of MaxCyte, Inc.

MaxCyte’s ExPERT instrument family represents the next generation of leading, clinically validated, electroporation technology for complex and scalable cellular engineering. By delivering high transfection efficiency with enhanced functionality, the ExPERT platform delivers the high-end performance essential to enable the next wave of biological and cellular therapeutics.

About Editas Medicine
As a leading genome editing company, Editas Medicine is focused on translating the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cpf1 (also known as Cas12a) genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of medicines for people living with serious diseases around the world. Editas Medicine aims to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. For the latest information and scientific presentations, please visit www.editasmedicine.com. 

About MaxCyte 
MaxCyte is a clinical-stage global cell-based therapies and life sciences company applying its proprietary cell engineering platform to deliver the advances of cell-based medicine to patients with high unmet medical needs. MaxCyte is developing novel CARMA therapies for its own pipeline, with its first drug candidate in a Phase I clinical trial. CARMA is MaxCyte’s mRNA-based proprietary therapeutic platform for autologous cell therapy for the treatment of solid cancers. In addition, through its life sciences business, MaxCyte leverages its Flow Electroporation Technology to enable its biopharmaceutical partners to advance the development of innovative medicines, particularly in cell therapy. MaxCyte has placed its flow electroporation instruments worldwide, including with all of the top ten global biopharmaceutical companies. The Company now has more than 80 partnered programme licenses in cell therapy with more than 45 licensed for clinical use, including six commercial licenses. With its robust delivery technology platform, MaxCyte helps its partners to unlock the full potential of their products. For more information, visit www.maxcyte.com.

Editas Medicine Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘potential,’’ ‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘target,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘would,’’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Editas Medicine may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.  Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials and clinical development of Editas Medicine’s product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability of funding sufficient for Editas Medicine’s foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements.  These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption “Risk Factors” included in Editas Medicine’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that Editas Medicine may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future.  Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Editas Medicine expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: Editas Medicine, Inc.

Source: MaxCyte, Inc.