StemCell Therapy

Transfer of Caribous novel microbial IP will enable new therapeutic opportunities for Novome

License to CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property controlled by Caribou will accelerate the development of preclinical candidates built on Novomes proprietary synthetic biology platform

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novome Biotechnologies, Inc., a biotechnology company engineering first-in-class, living medicines for chronic diseases, today announced that it has taken assignment to certain microbial intellectual property, and has non-exclusively licensed foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property controlled by Caribou Biosciences, a leading CRISPR genome editing company, to expand its therapeutic pipeline and platform capabilities.

This is an important milestone for Novome that should unlock new therapeutic avenues while we accelerate the pace of preclinical development at the company. The ability to leverage the efficient and flexible CRISPR-Cas9 system will allow us to rapidly iterate on GEMM strain designs to generate the most promising therapeutic candidates, said Blake Wise, Chief Executive Officer of Novome. Additionally, we are excited to leverage the progress made by Caribous microbial group and advance this promising science.

Under the terms of an assignment agreement, Novome acquired ownership of certain intellectual property and preclinical projects related to undisclosed therapeutic areas. Additionally, pursuant to a license agreement, Novome received a non-exclusive license to foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property controlled by Caribou for genetic modification of bacterial species for administration as therapeutics in humans. Terms of the agreements have not been disclosed. Novome will have full control of development, manufacturing, and commercialization of any product candidates covered by either the assignment agreement or the license agreement.

Novome developed the first platform for controlled and robust colonization of the human gut with engineered therapeutic bacteria, its Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs) platform. The Company is focused on advancing its lead hyperoxaluria program through Phase 1 clinical proof-of-concept work and expanding its platform and pipeline to address additional disease indications.

Novome was founded in 2016 by scientists from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, based on research performed in the laboratory of Scientific Co-founder Dr. Justin Sonnenburg, Associate Professor, Stanford University. The founding team, Drs. Will DeLoache, Weston Whitaker, Zachary Russ, and Liz Shepherd, combines deep expertise in synthetic biology and the study of the gut microbiota. Their work has led to numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as the filing of a portfolio of patents, both developed at Novome and licensed exclusively from Stanford.

About Genetically Engineered Microbial MedicinesGenetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs) are proprietary bacterial strains designed to colonize the gut at a controllable abundance and express therapeutic transgenes at clinically meaningful levels. Colonization is maintained using a daily dose of prebiotic polysaccharide that GEMMs are engineered to depend upon for their survival.

About NovomeNovome Biotechnologies, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on engineering defined activities into the human gut microbiota to treat chronic diseases. The Company has developed the first-ever platform for controlled colonization of the gut with engineered bacteria, enabling first-in-class living therapeutics: Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs). Novome is utilizing its proprietary GEMMs platform in its lead preclinical program in hyperoxaluria, which is focused on the development of a therapeutic strain of bacteria that degrades oxalate to prevent the formation of kidney stones. Efforts are also directed to the expansion of its proprietary synthetic biology platform into additional indications.

Source: Novome Biotechnologies, Inc.

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Novome Biotechnologies Expands Therapeutic Focus and Platform Capabilities with Acquisition of Preclinical Projects and Intellectual Property from...

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