The Gene-Editing Tool on Every Drugmaker's Wish List This Year
- Crispr-Cas9 draws investments from Vertex, Bayer, Novartis
- Patent fight, regulation may restrain still-unproven tool
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In a single year, Rodger Novak’s gene-editing startup raised $89 million in venture funding, got $105 million to enter a partnership with big drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. -- and, this week, announced a deal with Bayer AG worth $335 million.
Crispr Therapeutics Ltd. won’t start human trials of its therapies until 2017, but the company is at the forefront of one of the hottest technologies in biotech. Investors and drugmakers from Johnson & Johnson to Merck & Co. are flocking to a potent tool called Crispr, saying its precise DNA editing capabilities could yield treatments for conditions as diverse as blood diseases, cancers, auto-immune disorders and genetic eye disorders.