- Oral Presentation to Highlight Efficacy and Specificity of ARCUS Nucleases for Potential Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 20, 2023-- Precision BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTIL), a clinical stage gene editing company developing ARCUS®-based ex vivo allogeneic CAR T and in vivo gene editing therapies, today announced an upcoming scientific presentation of preclinical data from its PBGENE-HBV program. PBGENE-HBV is designed to potentially eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) by targeting viral covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in vivo. An abstract relating to the PBGENE-HBV program was selected for an oral presentation at the Global Hepatitis Summit 2023, being held April 25-28, 2023 in Paris, France.

“Specificity is paramount for a safe gene editing approach to eliminate hepatitis B virus,” said Jeff Smith, Chief Research Officer of Precision BioSciences. “Preclinical data suggests that a lack of nuclease specificity can lead to unfavorable off-target results including increased integrations of HBV genomes into the human genome, as well as translocations between integrations. However, ARCUS nucleases have been optimized to exhibit high levels of on-target editing and substantial reductions of both intracellular cccDNA and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) with no detectable translocations in primary human hepatocytes. These data continue to support our development of PBGENE-HBV as a potential curative approach for chronic HBV infection.”

Presentation Details:

Title: A gene editing approach for chronic hepatitis B: Elimination of hepatitis B virus in vivo by targeting cccDNA and integrated viral genomes with a sequence-specific ARCUS nuclease.
Date and Time: Wednesday, April 26, 8:30-10:30 (Paris time)
Session Title: HBV/HDV treatment targets

GHS 2023 congress attendees may access abstracts at https://global-hepatitis.com.

About ARCUS

ARCUS is a proprietary genome editing technology discovered and developed by scientists at Precision BioSciences. It uses sequence-specific DNA-cutting enzymes, or nucleases, that are designed to either insert (knock-in), excise (knock-out), or repair DNA of living cells and organisms. ARCUS is based on a naturally occurring genome editing enzyme, I-CreI, that evolved in the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to make highly specific cuts in cellular DNA and stimulate gene insertion at the cut site by homologous recombination. Precision's platform and products are protected by a comprehensive portfolio including nearly 100 patents to date.

About Precision BioSciences, Inc.

Precision BioSciences, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving life (DTIL) with its novel and proprietary ARCUS® genome editing platform. ARCUS is a highly precise and versatile genome editing platform that was designed with therapeutic safety, delivery, and control in mind. Using ARCUS, the Company’s pipeline consists of multiple ex vivo “off-the-shelf” CAR T immunotherapy clinical candidates and several in vivo gene editing candidates designed to cure genetic and infectious diseases where no adequate treatments exist. For more information about Precision BioSciences, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding expected conference participation and disclosure of preclinical data, and the clinical development and goals of our PBGENE-HBV program. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “approach,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “look,” “may,” “mission,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “pursue,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative thereof and similar words and expressions.

Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. Such statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various important factors, including, but not limited to, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as any such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investors page of our website under SEC Filings at investor.precisionbiosciences.com.

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, we have no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230420005399/en/

Investor and Media Contact:
Mei Burris
Director, Investor Relations and Finance
Mei.Burris@precisionbiosciences.com

Source: Precision BioSciences, Inc.