CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016, and provided an update on recent accomplishments and upcoming events.

“We made important progress in the third quarter of 2016 across all three of our key strategic objectives,” said Katrine Bosley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Editas Medicine. “Most notably, the addition of Charlie Albright and Gerry Cox to lead our scientific and clinical teams further reinforces our belief that we have the right team and platform to advance CRISPR medicines broadly.”

Recent Highlights

• Appointed Charles Albright, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Albright brings more than 25 years of life sciences industry and academic leadership experience. He has advanced multiple medicines into the clinic over the course of his career, most recently as Vice President of Genetically Defined Diseases and Genomics at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Previously, Dr. Albright held positions at Incyte Corporation and DuPont Pharmaceuticals and was an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University.

• Appointed Gerald Cox, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Cox held senior clinical development roles at Sanofi Genzyme (formerly Genzyme Corporation) for over 15 years, most recently as Vice President of Rare Disease Clinical Development. He was instrumental in the development and approval of treatments for lysosomal storage disorders, including the enzyme replacement therapies Aldurazyme® (iduronidase) for Mucopolysaccharidosis type I in 2013, Myozyme® (alglucosidase alfa) for Pompe disease in 2006, Elaprase® (idursulfase) for Mucopolysaccharidosis type II in Japan and the Asia Pacific region in 2007, and the substrate reduction therapy Cerdelga® (eliglustat) for Gaucher disease type I in 2014.

• Presented data on the use of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) in a poster presentation at the 24^th Annual Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, hosted in conjunction with the 2016 International Symposia of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The data presented the Company's continued progress in editing human HSPCs obtained from multiple patients. Edited HSPCs were viable, retained ex vivo hematopoietic activity, and supported blood reconstitution following transplantation in mice. Importantly, similar levels of gene editing were observed in HSPCs before and after transplantation, and edited cells transplanted into secondary recipients’ reconstituted human blood for up to 26 weeks.

Upcoming Events

• Editas management will present a Company overview and host meetings with investors at the Stifel Healthcare Conference 2016 to be held November 15-16.

• Editas scientists will present data on the Company's hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell program in a poster session at the 58^th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition to be held December 3-6.

  Poster Title: Highly Efficient CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated Gene Editing in Long-Term Engrafting Human Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells Authors: J. M. Heath, A. Chalishazar, C.S. Lee, W. Selleck, C. Cotta-Ramusino, D. Bumcrot, J.L. Gori
  Session Name: Gene Therapy and Transfer: Poster I
  Time: Saturday, December 3, 2016, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
  Location: San Diego Convention Center, Hall GH

Third Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2016, were $199.9 million, compared to $143.2 million at December 31, 2015.

For the three months ended September 30, 2016, net loss attributable to common stockholders was $21.0 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to $7.5 million, or $2.57 per share, for the same period in 2015.

• Collaboration and other research and development revenues were $1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016, and consisted of $0.8 million of revenue recognized pursuant to our collaboration with Juno Therapeutics and $0.2 million of revenue recognized pursuant to our agreement with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. Collaboration and other research and development revenues were $0.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015, and consisted of revenue recognized pursuant to our collaboration with Juno Therapeutics.
• Research and development expenses increased by $6.9 million, to $10.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016, from $3.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015. The $6.9 million increase was due to a $2.8 million increase in employee and non-employee related expenses, including stock-based compensation resulting from an increase in the size of our workforce, a $2.2 million increase in our process and platform development expenses due to increased research activity, a $1.1 million increase in facility-related costs resulting from additional office and laboratory space, and a $0.8 million increase in certain license fees and expenses.
• General and administrative expenses increased by $7.1 million to $11.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016, from $4.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015. The $7.1 million increase in general and administrative expenses consisted of an increase of $4.3 million in legal fees to support patents that we own or in-license, including costs for the prosecution and maintenance of patents that we own or in-license as well as to procure the application for and issuance of additional patents in the United States and other jurisdictions, an increase of $1.8 million in employee compensation costs, and a $1.0 million increase in office and facility costs related to our new headquarters.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine is a leading genome editing company dedicated to treating patients with genetically-defined diseases by correcting their disease-causing genes. The Company was founded by world leaders in genome editing, and its mission is to translate the promise of genome editing science into a broad class of transformative genomic medicines to benefit the greatest number of patients.