In an effort to be the first to discover a safer, easier, and more scalable treatment for sickle cell disease, Sanofi will license a new CRISPR enzyme from the firm Scribe Therapeutics.
A DNA-cutting enzyme called CasX will be licensed by a French pharmaceutical company for use in a potential single-infusion treatment for the deadly blood condition, known as in vivo therapy, in exchange for $40 million upfront payment from Scribe and an additional $1.2 billion in potential milestone payments. Jennifer Doudna, who invented CRISPR, made CasX in her lab, which later gave rise to Scribe.
Sanofi had planned to reveal the information on Tuesday, but GEN broke the news early on Monday.
