Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics have entered into an agreement to create a joint venture (JV) to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics for blood disorders, blindness, and congenital heart disease. CRISPR Therapeutics will contribute its CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology and intellectual property, while Bayer will provide protein engineering expertise and relevant disease knowledge.
 
The JV, to be named at a later date, will be based in London, UK, with operations in Cambridge, MA. This long-term strategic partnership represents the first of its kind investment in the development of target delivery systems in an effort to bring systemic in vivo CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology applications to patients.
 
This is the first investment by the newly established Bayer LifeScience Center (BLSC), which operates as a strategic innovation unit within Bayer aimed at discovering scientific and medical breakthroughs more rapidly by enabling innovative partnerships.
 
Bayer will provide a minimum of $300 million in R&D investments during the next five years and will acquire a minority stake in CRISPR Therapeutics for $35 million in cash. The JV will be led by Dr. Axel Bouchon, head of the BLSC, on an interim basis as chief executive officer, while Dr. Rodger Novak, chief executive officer and co-founder of CRISPR Therapeutics, will serve as the interim chairman of the newly formed JV Board.
 
“The new Bayer LifeScience Center and the partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics are representative of Bayer’s more than 150-year tradition of developing scientific innovations that dramatically improve lives,” said Dr. Marijn Dekkers, chief executive officer of Bayer AG. “Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics are philosophically and financially aligned in our mission to develop game-changing or possibly curative treatments for serious human genetic diseases.”
 
“The JV and the Bayer investment are game-changing for our business,” said Rodger Novak. “We keep a 50% ownership in the high-risk, high-reward areas of blood disorders, blindness, and congenital heart diseases, but also retain full access to target delivery technologies and IP development by the JV, which we intend to fully leverage in support of CRISPR Therapeutics’ wholly owned core strategic disease areas.”