Scribe Therapeutics continues to advance the development of its CRISPR platform and pipeline

Scribe Therapeutics has completed an oversubscribed $100m Series B financing round to advance the development of its CRISPR platform and pipeline.

Scribe was co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, a co-inventor of CRISPR technology and co-recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The company’s platform is based on CRISPR technology (also known as CRISPR-Cas9) – CRISPRs are specialised stretches of DNA that can be cut by Cas9 enzymes.

This technology evolved from the natural defence mechanisms of bacteria and archaea, which use RNA and Cas proteins to target and attack viruses and other foreign bodies.

Scribe’s technology platform can create custom CRISPR molecules that are specifically designed for therapeutic use within the body, overcoming the limitation of using existing enzymes that may lead to ‘poor editing outcomes’.

“Scribe’s engineering-first philosophy has resulted in a uniquely flexible platform for imagining and creating a new era of CRISPR-based therapies to elevate the standard of care for thousands of patients,” said Jennifer Doudna, co-inventor of CRISPR technology, Nobel Laureate and co-founder of Scribe Therapeutics.

Scribe has already engineered CRISPR enzymes found in nature into millions of novel variants, which it says have ideal therapeutic attributes to enable ‘highly effective and specific in vivo applications’.

It is also looking to engineer additional technologies as part of its expanding platform while developing its pipeline to target areas of unmet need.

The company is already conducting a $400m research collaboration with Biogen to develop CRISPR-based therapies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Scribe is also exploring additional therapeutic targets, as well as new partnership opportunities, the company said in a statement.

“We are building a future where treating the underlying causes of disease will be achieved by best-in-class, custom engineered technologies,” said Benjamin Oakes, chief executive officer and co-founder of Scribe Therapeutics.

“With molecular engineering at our core, we aim to move beyond discovery towards scalable biological design that can precisely address previously intractable genetic maladies,” he added.