Company Website:
http://www.gilead.com
FOSTER CITY, Calif. & DURHAM, N.C. -- (Business Wire)
Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Precision BioSciences announced today
that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration to
develop therapies targeting the in vivo elimination of hepatitis
B virus (HBV) with Precision’s proprietary genome editing platform,
ARCUS.
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An estimated 257 million people are living with HBV infection around the
world. Current HBV treatments suppress HBV viral replication but do not
completely clear the virus. The presence of covalently closed circular
DNA (cccDNA) enables HBV replication if treatment is stopped.
Preliminary studies at Gilead using ARCUS nucleases to target HBV cccDNA in
vitro have demonstrated significant activity against cccDNA and
integrated HBV DNA in human hepatocytes.
“Gilead is committed to developing innovative therapies to achieve
functional cure for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection,”
said John McHutchison, MD, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research
and Development at Gilead. “We are excited about the potential of genome
editing and Precision’s ARCUS technology, which has demonstrated
promising in vitro activity. We look forward to exploring this
technology as an important component of our HBV cure research efforts.”
Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Precision will be
primarily responsible for the development, formulation, and preclinical
evaluation of the investigational nucleases, and Gilead will be
responsible for the clinical development and commercialization of
potential therapies. Gilead will fully fund the research and
development. Precision is eligible to receive milestone payments of up
to an aggregate of $445 million and tiered royalties that go up to the
mid-teens for commercial products developed through the collaboration.
Precision Chief Scientific Officer Derek Jantz commented, “Gilead's
cure-based approach to hepatitis B is comprehensive and exciting.
Precision is pleased that initial studies with our ARCUS platform have
established an important role for genome editing in their HBV program.
This is an excellent application for our technology, which has made
notable progress toward therapeutic in vivo editing in relevant
models over the last year.”
About Precision BioSciences
Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life. Our mission is to
cure genetic disease, overcome cancer, and feed the planet. We are
striving to achieve this goal with ARCUS, our therapeutic-grade,
naturally-derived genome editing system that combines both specificity
and efficacy to help overcome life’s greatest genetic challenges. For
additional information, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that
discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of
unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care
for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has
operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in
Foster City, California.
Gilead Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are
subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including the risk
that the parties may not realize the potential benefits of this
collaboration. All statements other than statements of historical fact
are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These
risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking
statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking
statements. These and other risks are described in detail in Gilead’s
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, as
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All
forward-looking statements are based on information currently available
to Gilead, and Gilead assumes no obligation to update any such
forward-looking statements.
For more information on Gilead Sciences, please visit the company’s
website at www.gilead.com,
follow Gilead on Twitter (@GileadSciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs
at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180912005598/en/
Contacts:
Gilead Investors
Sung Lee, 650-524-7792
or
Gilead Media
Amy
Flood, 650-522-5643
or
Precision Media
Heather King,
919-314-5512 x1332
Source: Gilead Sciences, Inc.
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