The genome-editing technology has shown the potential to cure life-limiting and threatening diseases. Many of the innovative startups have entered into the clinical trial phase, while some have even applied for accelerated approval of their product to the Food and Safety Administration (FDA) in the United States. Amid the growing innovation in the space from early-stage startups, genome technology has also garnered interest from large pharmaceutical firms, who are now looking to enter the space, to further accelerate their business growth. Consequently, these big corporations are either investing in early-stage startups or forging strategic alliances to access the gene-editing tools and platforms developed by startups. For instance,
Under the terms of the deal, Ionis Pharmaceuticals will pay US$80 million to Metagenomi upfront. The collaboration will allow Ionis Pharmaceuticals to add DNA editing to its RNA-targeted technologies. Initially, the two firms are focusing on four genetic targets. Notably, the partnership with Metagenomi is important from a variety of different perspectives. For instance,
The trend of pharmaceutical firms collaborating with gene-editing startups is expected to grow significantly over the next few quarters. Already, many such partnerships have emerged in the gene-editing space. For instance,
Over the years, NK cells have garnered increasing interest from cancer drugmakers as they continued to look for alternatives to T cells, which are used in CAR-T treatments for lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. Notably, Sanofi was not able to capitalize on the first wave of cancer cell therapy development. It was led by players such as Novartis, Gilead, and Bristol Myers Squibb. However, the collaboration with Scribe indicates that the firm is now looking to make up for the lost ground, as it bets on newer technologies such as genome editing.
In addition to strategic collaborations, the trends of mergers and acquisitions are also expected to grow significantly over the next three to four years, as more and more large pharmaceutical firms continue to expand their focus in the gene-editing space. These trends have also started to emerge in the market. For instance,
Furthermore, the trend of mergers and acquisitions will be also driven by the current macroeconomic environment, wherein startups are finding it difficult to raise funding from venture capital firms. This will present more acquisition opportunities for larger firms that are looking to capitalize on the early-stage gene editing development from these innovative startups.