Scribe Therapeutics Inc. announced the achievement of a second success milestone for one of the targets in its collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. The companies are working towards developing in vivo CRISPR-based genetic medicines for neurological and neuromuscular disorders. This latest milestone is a testament to the companies' ongoing progress in accelerating the development of next-generation therapies by using Scribe's proprietary X-Editor (XE) technology and is the second such event in Scribe and Lilly's collaboration.
The achievement further validates CRISPR by Design??, Scribe's holistic, data-driven, and iterative engineering approach to deliberately optimize CRISPR-based medicines and apply them to specified targets that drive prevalent, high-burden diseases with significant unmet need. Previously, the companies signaled progress in their collaboration in the form of an initial milestone achievement and a joint scientific presentation at ASGCT in 2025. Under the terms of the original agreement announced in 2023, Scribe is eligible to receive more than $1.5 billion across all programs in milestone payments for the achievement of certain research, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as low-double-digit royalties.
About Scribe's X-Editor (XE). XE is Scribe's novel CRISPR-based gene editing technology designed for precise and versatile genetic modification. It uses a staggered DNA cleavage mechanism to achieve high on-target activity, specificity, and flexibility across a range of applications, including gene knock-out, knock-down, knock-in, exon skipping, genetic excision, and other targeted modifications.
Scribe has engineered its novel CasX enzyme, XE, with improved nuclease stability, DNA binding, cleavage activity, and specificity, resulting in greater than 100-fold higher editing than naturally occurring CasX in cell-based assays while maintaining exquisite specificity across target sites. XE's compact size and engineered PAM recognition together provide a differentiated combination of capability, specificity, delivery, flexibility, and a broad therapeutic window, providing the potential for durable, one-time treatments for genetically defined diseases.
