Intellia Launches New Division eXtellia Therapeutics to Focus on Immuno-Oncology

- Focused on Immuno-Oncology, Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disease Areas -

- Dedicated Scientific Organization and Leadership Team Will Build on Intellia’s Expertise with CRISPR/Cas9 -

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intellia Therapeutics, a leading gene-editing company, has launched a new division, eXtellia Therapeutics, with the intent of focusing resources and research on ex vivo applications of the novel technology, CRISPR/Cas9. As in vivo and ex vivo programs require different competencies in research, manufacturing and commercialization, eXtellia Therapeutics is being launched to accelerate Intellia’s efforts in areas of significant unmet medical need – immuno-oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases – using an ex vivo approach. Intellia will continue its in vivo programs and strategy through a dedicated scientific team.

“eXtellia enables us to bring together the required capabilities needed to take the CRISPR/Cas9 technology beyond Intellia’s emerging in vivo, HSC and CAR-T efforts. We believe eXtellia further positions us to maximize the CRISPR/ Cas9 opportunity to address severe unmet medical needs for patients.”

“We are excited to announce the establishment of eXtellia, increasing our footprint in ex vivo gene editing for oncology and autoimmune diseases,” said Nessan Bermingham, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Intellia Therapeutics. “eXtellia enables us to bring together the required capabilities needed to take the CRISPR/Cas9 technology beyond Intellia’s emerging in vivo, HSC and CAR-T efforts. We believe eXtellia further positions us to maximize the CRISPR/ Cas9 opportunity to address severe unmet medical needs for patients.”

eXtellia complements Intellia’s five-year collaboration with Novartis, announced in January, 2015, which is focused on CRISPR/Cas9 applications with chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CART)- and Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC)-based therapies. Intellia scientists will continue to work closely with Novartis. eXtellia scientists intend to leverage the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 across a variety of immune cells, such as natural killer cells and T-cells, to develop therapies for patients where treatment needs are inadequately addressed.

For ex vivo applications, cells are removed from the patient and edited in culture and then returned to the patient. The in vivo approach packages CRISPR/Cas9 in a delivery vehicle which is administered directly into the patient. CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing holds great promise across a range of therapeutic applications, including autoimmune and blood disorders, cancer and other genetic-based diseases. It has been shown to be an efficient and precise method for gene editing across multiple cell and tissue types, making it an ideal platform for both ex vivo and in vivo applications.

About Intellia Therapeutics
Intellia Therapeutics is a leading gene-editing company focused on the development of proprietary products utilizing the recently discovered CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Intellia intends to advance its pipeline and potentially develop a new drug class by leveraging its leading scientific and clinical development expertise and its exclusive access to one of the most comprehensive intellectual property platforms available. Intellia is supported by its founding investors Atlas and Novartis, as well a number of public and private sector funds. In 2014, Intellia was named as one of the top 10 biotech start-ups by Nature Biotechnology. In September 2015, Intellia was named a “Fierce 15” biotech company by FierceBiotech. Learn more about Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR/Cas9 at intelliatx.com; Follow us on Twitter @intelliatweets.