BioCentury
ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Beaming about base changes

How Beam Therapeutics is increasing the efficiency of gene editing

June 14, 2018 9:50 PM UTC

Beam Therapeutics launched with a CRISPR-guided base editor platform that could introduce more precise point mutations than other gene editing technologies without the risk of off-target cuts.

Founded by CRISPR veterans David Liu of Harvard University, Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Keith Joung of Massachusetts General Hospital, Beam launched with an $87 million series A round on May 14. Liu, Zhang and Joung also co-founded Editas Medicine Inc., which has an equity stake in Beam and is eligible for royalties...