US-based Revvity, Inc. (previously affiliated with PerkinElmer, Inc.) has announced a new license agreement with UK-headquartered pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca for the technology underlying its Pin-point base editing system, a next-generation modular gene editing platform with a strong safety profile. 

The Pin-point system and the underlying base editing technology is designed to enable highly efficient and precise single and multiplex (multi-gene) editing without unintended impact on cell viability or functionality. Compared to traditional CRISPR technologies, which create double-stranded breaks in the DNA, this newer editing system uses a modified Cas enzyme that only nicks one strand of the DNA. This allows for a more controlled approach to gene disruption and base correction.

Revvity has also developed a novel proprietary method to leverage the base editing mechanism to insert genes, such as to create an allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy by knocking in a CAR while knocking out immune markers simultaneously.

The Pin-point base editing system is part of Revvity’s cell and gene therapy portfolio which spans gene modulation and editing, cell analysis, immunoassays, and optimised AAV and lentiviral vector development and manufacturing to improve the specificity, efficacy and safety of cell and gene therapies.