START-UPS
Pipeline
Intellia lines up a stock offering and new partner
Intellia is pursuing multiple targets with CRISPR/Cas9 edits
Developer of CRISPR/Cas9 therapies taps into Regeneron and the stock market to support its pipeline Capitalizing on continued drug industry interest in CRISPR/Cas9 technology, the gene-editing therapy start-up Intellia Therapeutics has formed a new partnership and is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Last week, Cambridge, Mass.-based Intellia signed a licensing and collaboration deal with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The partners will develop both the underlying CRISPR/Cas9 technology and in vivo therapies against as many as 10 targets. About half the targets will be diseases—such as the protein-accumulation disorder transthyretin amyloidosis—that may be treated by editing genes in the liver. Regeneron will pay $75 million up front as well as potential milestone payments. In addition, Regeneron has agreed to invest up to $50 million in Intellia’s next equity financing. Intellia’s other drug in-
dustry investor is Novartis, which collaborates with the biotech firm in the areas of chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CARTs) and hematopoietic stem cells. Meanwhile, Intellia, which is a 2014 spin-off of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology firm Caribou Biosciences, has filed to sell up to $120 million worth of stock. If it goes ahead with an IPO, it will be the second CRISPR start-up to do so. In February, competitor Editas Medicine raised about $100 million through its IPO. Its shares are now trading at more than twice their offering price. Whether Editas’s good fortune continues and Intellia’s stock warrants a similar value is uncertain. The earliest clinical trials by either company are at least a year away. Editas is collaborating on CART therapies with Juno Therapeutics while a third CRISPR/Cas9 competitor, Crispr
PROGRAMS Transthyretin amyloidosis α1-Antitrypsin deficiency Hepatitis B Inborn errors of metabolism Hematopoietic stem cells CARTs
PARTNER TYPE OF GENE EDIT Regeneron Knockout Proprietary Knockout, repair Proprietary Knockout Proprietary Knockout, repair, insertion Novartis, Knockout, repair, proprietary insertion Novartis Knockout, insertion
Source: Intellia
Therapeutics, works with Bayer and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. At the same time, the companies’ leading scientists and founders are embroiled in a patent interference proceeding over rights to the basic CRISPR technology. Cowen & Co. stock analyst Phil Nadeau expects eventually to see multiple cross-licenses along with additional patents on individual therapies. “The value in the CRISPR franchises will be determined by their ability to develop successful therapeutic products,” Nadeau told clients in a report.—ANN
THAYER
RENEWABLES
Biodiesel catalyst ranks to expand Seeing more growth ahead, two small companies invest in new plants Growth in the biodiesel market is spurring two small companies to invest in U.S. production of sodium methylate, a catalyst used to convert fats and oils into the renewable fuel. These Davids will be going up against two biodiesel catalyst Goliaths, the German chemical makers BASF and Evonik Industries. New Heaven Chemicals is starting up a plant in Manly, Iowa, that will make 18,000 metric tons per year of sodium methylate for biodiesel industry customers. Prasad Devineni, the firm’s director, says the plant is being commissioned and should be running in the next few weeks. Although New Heaven will be new to U.S. production, its parent company, India’s TSS Group, has been importing sodium methylate from Saudi Arabia since 2006, Devineni notes. New Heaven anticipates building a second, similarly sized, sodium methylate plant in Houston.
O O R
O
R O
R + CH3OH
Sodium methylate catalyst
O 3 CH3O
OH OH
R + HO
O
O Glyceride
Alcohol
Meanwhile, Interstate Chemical is advancing plans to produce sodium methylate in Erie, Pa., to serve customers such as the nearby firm Hero BX, which calls itself the largest biodiesel maker east of the Mississippi. Interstate says it will spend $60 million to build plants for sodium methylate and methanol, the latter of which is reacted with sodium hydroxide to make the catalyst. Interstate has been producing sodium methylate for close to 10 years using an older process that starts with sodium metal. The firm’s plan to invest in the newer route follows DuPont’s decision to close
Biodiesel
Glycerin
its sodium facility in Niagara Falls, N.Y. U.S. biodiesel consumption has enjoyed a meteoric rise from less than 100 million L in 2004 to almost 8 billion L in 2015, according to the National Biodiesel Board. During those years, Evonik erected sodium methylate plants in Alabama and Argentina. BASF built in Argentina and Brazil. However, the years ahead may not be as heady for the catalyst newcomers. U.S. imports of biodiesel are on the increase. And a growing portion of biodiesel is socalled renewable diesel, which is made via a hydrotreating process that doesn’t require sodium methylate.—MICHAEL MCCOY APRIL 18, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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