CRISPR play Caribou broadens therapeutics reach with AbbVie deal to develop allogeneic CAR Ts

After giving up rights to CRISPR-Cas9 for most therapeutic applications years ago, Jennifer Doudna-founded Caribou is now teaming up with AbbVie to use a different CRISPR enzyme to create allogeneic CAR T cell therapies.

The partners will develop two allogeneic CAR T cell therapies using Caribou Biosciences Inc.’s CRISPR-Cas12a gene editing platform through a deal that brings $40 million up front and a potential $300 million in milestones to Caribou, which is one of the few remaining private companies among first generation CRISPR plays...