Tome Biosciences, Inc., the programmable genomic integration (PGI) company,  announces that it has acquired Replace Therapeutics Inc., a private biotechnology company developing a novel PGI method capable of inserting and deleting small DNA sequences.

Replace Therapeutics was founded by serial entrepreneur Shakked Halperin, PhD, whose previous company Rewrite Therapeutics was acquired by Intellia Therapeutics, and is backed by Civilization Ventures. The technology combines the site-specificity of CRISPR/Cas9 with the writing enzyme DNA ligase to precisely manipulate small DNA sequences. This ligase-mediated PGI (L-PGI) technology is well-suited for 10s to 100s of base pair DNA edits, complementing Tome’s flagship large DNA PGI technology, integrase-mediated PGI (I-PGI). In in vitro studies, L-PGI has demonstrated high efficiency and specificity in both dividing and non-dividing cells without the need for double-strand DNA breaks.

“The addition of L-PGI to our PGI toolset provides us with the flexibility to choose the right editing tool for the right indication, expanding the types of diseases that we have the potential to cure,” said Rahul Kakkar, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tome.

Added Shakked Halperin, PhD, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Replace, “We designed our ligase-mediated technology to make any DNA edit needed with a higher precision and efficiency than that seen with other DNA editing technologies. As a leader in PGI, Tome is well-suited to develop this technology for a multitude of different applications.”

Under the terms of the acquisition, Tome will acquire Replace Therapeutics through a merger transaction of $65 million in up-front and near-term milestones and a total deal value of up to $185 million through a mix of stock and cash. As a result of the merger, Replace Therapeutics will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tome Biosciences.