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Beam Therapeutics Presents First In Vivo Proof of Concept Preclinical Data on Multiplex Base Edited ESCAPE Platform for Non-Genotoxic Conditioning Regimen for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Ahead of Autologous Transplant
Data from ESCAPE-1 and ESCAPE-2 Approaches to Be Presented During Poster Sessions at the 64th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 10,
About this update from Beam Therapeutics Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Data from ESCAPE-1 and ESCAPE-2 Approaches to Be Presented During Poster Sessions at the 64th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition\nCAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beam Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, today announced new preclinical data from its Engineered Stem Cell Antibody Paired Evasion (ESCAPE) conditioning approach aimed at overcoming toxicity challenges associated with currently available conditioning regimens. Beam is advancing ESCAPE as part of its long-term strategy to support broad accessibility of base editing treatments for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and other hematologic diseases. “Wave 2” of this strategy is focused on improving the safety and tolerability of conditioning regimens, a required pretreatment for patients receiving ex vivo gene editing treatment via autologous transplant that can be coupled with a treatment for SCD through multiplex base editing. Beam is currently advancing two ESCAPE programs: “ESCAPE-1” and “ESCAPE-2.” In both strategies, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are multiplex edited to generate point mutations in the CD117 gene and a therapeutic edit for the treatment of SCD. The base edit to CD117, a well-categorized conditioning target, results in amino acid substitutions and is intended to allow these HSCs to evade elimination by the conditioning antibody. ESCAPE-1 has been designed to induce a therapeutic edit for SCD at the HGB1/2 gene to enable upregulation of fetal hemoglobin, while ESCAPE-2 is designed to install the therapeutic HbG-Makassar edit. Beam’s ESCAPE strategy is intended to allow the conditioning antibody to selectively clear unedited host cells while allowing cells containing the CD117 edit to engraft and proliferate in the presence of the antibody. “We continue to make important progress with our ESCAPE strategy to improve conditioning regimens for patients ahead of autologous transplant, with a goal of expanding the number of patients who may be able to benefit from our novel therapeutic candidates,” said Giuseppe Ciaramella, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Beam. “We’re excited to share the first in vivo data from ESCAPE, which provide further evidence of our approach’s potential to enable less toxic pre-transplant conditioning, while min...