Biogen gets in on zinc fingers

Biogen announced late yesterday that it would license two preclinical drugs from Sangamo Therapeutics, both of which use a genome-editing technology called zinc fingers to regulate the expression of genes involved in neurological diseases.

Sangamo is getting a lot of money out of the deal: $125 million in cash as an upfront license fee plus $225 million from the sale of new Sangamo stock that Biogen will purchase at $9.21 per share, or a 38% premium to yesterday's closing price. The company is also eligible to receive up to $2.37 billion in future payments.

For Biogen, the payoff could come later, as STAT's Adam Feuerstein reports. The deal is a big bet both scientifically and financially that genome editing holds the key to treating diseases.

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