BUG BUSTER.

AuthorMartin, Cathy
PositionSTATEWIDE: Triangle

A 3-year-old Triangle startup has inked a potentially lucrative deal with a health care giant. Locus Biosciences could receive as much as $818 million from a license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, part of New Jersey-based health care products company Johnson & Johnson. Locus will use its CRISPR gene-editing technology to develop potential treatments for respiratory and other infections. The Morrisville-based drugmaker will receive $20 million upfront and is eligible for another $798 million if certain milestones are met. Locus also could receive royalties on future product sales.

CRISPR is lauded as a promising new technology in developing treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, which affect at least 2 million Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Locus uses a CRISPR platform to target common infections such as Clostridium difficile, a common hospital-acquired infection, and E. coli.

The technology selectively targets unwanted bacteria from the body while...

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