The German group is paying $40 million upfront to kick off the alliance, which is focusing on the development of up to five CRISPR drugs that can be delivered in vivo for liver-targeted diseases.
There is another $1 billion in downstream payments on offer, assuming the drug candidates all make it through to regulatory approval and hit sales targets.
CRISPR drugs can be used to modify the expression of disease-associated proteins in the body, for example, by correcting a mutation in a specific gene.
