Allergan and Editas Medicine Enter into Strategic R&D Alliance to Discover and Develop CRISPR Genome Editing Medicines for Eye Diseases

DUBLIN and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company, and Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today announced that Allergan's wholly-owned subsidiary, Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited, and Editas Medicine have entered into a strategic research and development alliance under which Allergan will receive exclusive access and the option to license up to five of Editas Medicine's genome-editing ocular programs, including its lead program for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA10), which is currently in pre-clinical development.

The agreement covers early stage, first-in-class ocular programs targeting serious diseases based on Editas Medicine's unparalleled CRISPR genome editing platform, including CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cpf1. Editas Medicine's lead program is being developed for the potential treatment of LCA10, a rare, inherited retinal degenerative disease that appears in childhood and leads to blindness.

"The CRISPR genome editing platform holds the potential to transform the treatment of many genetic and non-genetically derived diseases, including diseases and conditions of the eye," said David Nicholson, Chief Research and Development Officer, Allergan. "The Allergan team is excited to work with colleagues at Editas Medicine to develop and potentially deliver game-changing treatment for retinal diseases like LCA10. This program is highly complementary to our ongoing eye care development programs where unmet medical need exists for patients."

"Allergan has long been a leader in advancing innovative therapies to treat eye diseases," said Katrine Bosley, President and Chief Executive Officer, Editas Medicine.  "Working together with Allergan through their Open Science R&D model significantly enhances our ability to develop genome editing medicines to help patients with serious eye diseases. This alliance is highly aligned with our strategy to build our company for the long-term and to realize the broad potential of our genome editing platform to treat serious diseases."

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a dynamic, versatile tool that can be programmed to target specific stretches of genetic code and edit DNA at precise locations in the human genome. The technology allows researchers to permanently modify genes and has the potential to create medicines with a durable treatment effect.

Under the terms of the agreement, Editas Medicine will receive an upfront payment of $90 million for the development of five candidate programs. Editas Medicine has the potential to earn additional payments for achieving important near-term milestones specifically related to LCA10. Allergan will have the option to license up to five programs under the agreement and will be responsible for development and commercialization of the optioned products, subject to Editas' option right to co-develop and co-promote up to two optioned products in the United States.  Editas Medicine will also be eligible to receive development and commercial milestones, as well as royalty payments on a per-program basis. 

Conference Call Information

Editas Medicine and Allergan will host a conference call on Tuesday, March 14, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss the alliance. To access the call, please dial (877) 809-6321 (domestic) or (615) 247-0223 (international) and provide the passcode 88272560. A live webcast of the call will be available on the Investors & Media section of the Editas Medicine website at www.editasmedicine.com, and a replay will be available approximately two hours after its completion.

About the CRISPR Genome Editing Technology

The CRISPR technology targets specific stretches of genetic code and allows editing of DNA at precise locations in the human genome. Cas9 and Cpf1 are both enzyme/guide RNA complexes that use traditional RNA/DNA base-pairing to precisely locate specific DNA sequences with the goal of modifying or 'editing' a disease-associated or therapeutic genomic location. By changing the composition of the guide RNA, the Cas9 or Cpf1 nuclease complex can be reprogrammed to target different DNA sequences and can be engineered to perform a wide range of genome editing functions, including 'cutting and removing', 'cutting and revising', and 'cutting and replacing' genomic sequences. In this way, genome editing has the potential to treat a broad range of genetically-defined and genetically-treatable diseases.

About Leber Congenital Amaurosis

Leber Congenital Amaurosis, or LCA, is a group of inherited retinal dystrophies caused by mutations in at least 18 different genes. It is the most common cause of inherited childhood blindness, with an incidence of two to three per 100,000 live births worldwide. Symptoms of LCA appear within the first year of life, resulting in significant vision loss and blindness. The most common form of the disease, referred to as LCA10, is a monogenic disorder caused by mutations in the CEP290 gene and represents approximately 20‑30 percent of all LCA subtypes.

About Allergan plc

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company.  Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, devices and biologic products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, the Company's R&D model, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. This approach has led to Allergan building one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs in development.

Our Company's success is powered by our more than 16,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine is a leading genome editing company dedicated to treating patients with genetically-defined diseases by correcting their disease-causing genes. The Company was founded by world leaders in genome editing, and its mission is to translate the promise of genome editing science into a broad class of transformative genomic medicines to benefit the greatest number of patients.

Allergan Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective of existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Editas Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  The words ''anticipate,'' ''believe,'' ''continue,'' ''could,'' ''estimate,'' ''expect,'' ''intend,'' ''may,'' ''plan,'' ''potential,'' ''predict,'' ''project,'' ''target,'' ''should,'' ''would,'' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.  The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.  Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including: uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials and clinical development of the Company's product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; whether interim results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of the trial or the results of future trials; expectations for regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products and availability of funding sufficient for the Company's foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements.  These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption "Risk Factors" included in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future.  Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Allergan plc; Editas Medicine, Inc.