Pluristem joins CRISPR-IL to develop next-gen genome editing products
Haifa-based Pluristem Therapeutics has joined a consortium to help develop next-generation, multi-species genome editing products for human, plant and animal DNA that could improve work being done in the pharma, agriculture and aquaculture industries.
“We see cell therapy and gene editing as highly synergistic methods to treat and cure diseases using advanced technologies,” said Pluristem CEO Yaky Yanay.
The CRISPR-IL consortium, funded by the Israeli Innovation Authority, brings together a team of multi-disciplinary experts to develop artificial intelligence based end-toend genome-editing solutions. Pluristem is a regenerative medicine company, best known for its PLX cell therapy, which was recently cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for a Phase II study in the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases complicated by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
Pluristem’s vice president of research and intellectual property, Racheli Ofir, will lead CRISPR-IL’s pharma working group.
Several medical institutions and centers of academia are members of CRISPR-IL, including Sheba Medical Center and Schneider Children’s Medical Center, BarIlan University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute of Science, IDC Herzliya and Tel-Aviv University. In addition, several companies like Pluristem are part of the team.
The genome editing product is expected to improve on existing technology and should include “the computational design of on-target DNA modification, with minimal accidental, off-target modifications, improved modification efficiency and provide an accurate measuring tool to ensure the desired modification was made,” a release explained.
Yanay said that “Pluristem is honored to bring its allogeneic cell therapy and manufacturing expertise to the CRISPR-IL consortium and to lead the development of the next generation of allogeneic cell therapies for treating the diseases of today and the future.”