Base Editing with Beam Therapeutics CEO John Evans

Please note: as of 12/31/21, ARK’s clients own greater than 1% of the shares outstanding of Beam Therapeutics.

Base editing, and gene editing as a broader industry, are a major focus of our research at ARK, and utilize DNA Sequencing, one of our 5 technology platforms. To dive deeper into the world of base editing, Analyst Ali Urman sits down with industry veteran, Beam Therapeutics CEO John Evans. Evans was previously a Venture Partner with ARCH Venture Partners and an early employee and member of the leadership team at Agios Pharmaceuticals. At Agios, he helped develop IDHIFA and TIBSOVO, two IDH inhibitors for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), helped initiate and lead Agios’ landmark alliance with Celgene, and co-led Agios’s expansion into rare genetic diseases. On this episode, Ali and John discuss the potential cost declines of novel therapeutics, base editing’s applications for rare and chronic diseases, the total opportunity of the gene editing space and much more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• John’s favorite poet, Wallace Stevens
• Potential cost decline of gene editing, gene therapy and cell therapy and what that means for patients
• The efficiency of Multiplex Gene Editing (MGE)
• In vivo gene editing
• The many colors of CRISPR Gene Editing
• Adherence to chronic medicines
• Base editing applications for rare and chronic diseases
• Beam’s relationship with Prime Medicine
• Beam Therapeutic’s partnerships with Pfizer and Verve
• Measuring the opportunity in the Base Editing space
• The potential total market opportunity in the gene editing space
• The CRISPR patent ruling and its impact on the genomics field