Apellis, Beam Ink $75M Deal To Test Base Gene Editing Against Complement Disorders

Beam Therapeutics Inc BEAM joins forces with Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc APLS to create new gene-editing treatments for complement-driven diseases.
The partnership will leverage Beam’s base-editing technology to discover new treatments against various targets in the complement system.
Under the five-year collaboration, Apellis will pay Beam $75 million cash, including $50 million upfront and $25 million one year down the line, along with unspecified milestones in exchange for preclinical work on six different programs.
The programs will aim to complement protein C3 and other targets in the complement pathway to treat eye, liver, and brain diseases.
Apellis will have exclusive rights to license each of the six programs and assume responsibility for subsequent development. However, Beam has the right to go 50-50 developing and commercializing one of them in the U.S.
The deal comes days after Intellia Therapeutics Inc NTLA unveiled first-in-human gene editing results showing that genes could be edited successfully inside the human body.
The news sent shares of other gene-editing companies flying, including Beam.
Apellis is developing its lead C3 inhibitor pegcetacoplan for several diseases, snagging its first FDA nod for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria in May.
Price Action: BEAM and APLS shares closed at $128.71 and $63.2 on Wednesday.