CRISPR-based innovations drive $21 bn in pharma licensing deals over five years: GlobalData

The pharma industry has experienced a notable uptick in licensing agreements for innovator drugs incorporating clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based technology over the past five years. These agreements, primarily concentrated in oncology, immunology, and central nervous system therapeutics, have collectively accumulated an impressive $21 billion in deal value. Furthermore, the period from 2020 to 2022 witnessed a remarkable surge in deal worth, particularly in the domain of hematological disorders, reaching a substantial total deal value of $1.8 billion, reveals GlobalData.

Ophelia Chan, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “This underscores the increasing significance of CRISPR advancements in the development of therapies for hematological disorders.”

The FDA’s approval of Casgevy in December 2023 marked a significant breakthrough in gene therapy. Developed jointly by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, Casgevy is the first CRISPR and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) genome editing therapy for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. This therapy precisely edits DNA in blood stem cells, by taking the patient’s bone marrow stem cells and enhancing the expression of fetal hemoglobin to restore healthy hemoglobin production when reintroducing these edited stem cells back into the patient, thus alleviating symptoms in patients.

Chan adds: “Innovator drugs harnessing CRISPR technologies saw 182 per cent growth in total licensing agreement deal value from $5.6 billion in 2020 to $15.8 billion in 2022. Among the top three therapy areas, oncology represented over half of the total deal value with $11.9 billion, followed by immunology with $6.7 billion, and central nervous system with $2.2 billion.”