Verve Therapeutics Amends Gene Editing Pact With Beam Therapeutics

Verve Therapeutics Inc VERV entered into an amended and restated collaboration and license Agreement with Beam Therapeutics Inc BEAM, which amended the agreement initially announced in April 2019.

• The original agreement provided Verve with an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable license under certain of Beam’s base editing, gene editing, and delivery technologies for applications against four liver-mediated cardiovascular disease targets and two undisclosed gene targets.
• Under the amendment, Beam granted Verve a license toward an additional liver-mediated cardiovascular disease target. 
• Verve will be responsible for developing and commercializing products targeting such genes, subject to Beam’s opt-in right. 
• Following the final dosing of a patient in the Phase 1 trial of a licensed product for such gene, Beam can opt-in to share 35% of development costs, commercializing costs, and profits.
• If Beam does not opt-in, it would be entitled to receive milestones and royalties.
• Verve granted Beam an exclusive license under Verve’s intellectual property, including under Verve’s GalNAc-LNP delivery technology, relating to a preclinical program developed by Verve.
• In addition, the amended agreement grants Beam, on a target-by-target basis, the option to obtain a non-exclusive license to Verve’s GalNAc-LNP delivery technology.
• Beam would owe Verve a fee upon exercise of each option, certain milestones, and low single-digit royalties.
• Price Action: BEAM stock closed at $45.56, and VERV stock closed at $17.59 on Wednesday.
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