STAT+: Prime and Beam, born of same lab, pursuing rival gene-editing treatments
Prime Medicine and Beam Therapeutics had common origins in gene editing. Now they're both pursuing treatments for the same disease.
The gene-editing field may have yet another legal squabble on its hands — this time between two companies created by the same star biotech researcher, in a dispute that gets at the core of some of the challenges facing the field.
On Tuesday, Prime Medicine announced it was developing a gene-editing treatment for a debilitating lung and liver disorder called alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. On the surface, it’s an unsurprising move. AATD may affect 100,000 Americans. And it’s generally driven by a single misspelled letter, one that can be corrected with Prime’s technology.
The issue is that six years ago, Prime appeared to sign away its rights to create AATD treatments to another company it has long collaborated with, Beam Therapeutics.
