CRISPR Therapeutics inks deal with Nkarta on gene-edited cell therapies for cancer

Swiss–American biotechnology CRISPR Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CRSP) and Nkarta (Nasdaq: NKTX), a US biopharmaceutical company developing engineered NK cell therapies to treat cancer, have entered a strategic partnership to research, develop, and commercialize CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited cell therapies for cancer.

Both companies saw their share down around 5% by close of trading yesterday. However, Nkarta was up 14.6% at $29.71 in pre-market today.

Under the agreement, the companies will co-develop and co-commercialize two CAR NK cell product candidates, one targeting the CD70 tumor antigen and the other target to be determined. In addition, the companies will bring together their complementary cell therapy engineering and manufacturing capabilities to advance the development of a novel NK+T product candidate harnessing the synergies of the adaptive and innate immune systems. Finally, Nkarta obtains a license to CRISPR gene editing technology to edit five gene targets in an unlimited number of its own NK cell therapy products.