CEO @scribetx | at the interface of molecular and genetic engineering | designing CRISPR to be safe enough for all

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๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น-๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ซ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ, a novel ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฐ epigenetic CRISPR therapy designed to deliver ultra-durable lowering of โ€œbad cholesterol,โ€ from a single dose, all without permanently altering the genome. This program is built on years of intentional and iterative engineering focused on improving the safety, specificity, potency, and durability of CRISPR medicines. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜†๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ณ. As someone at high risk of ASCVD, like roughly one-third of adults in the U.S., Iโ€™ve spent a lot of time thinking about the burden patients carry. For a chronic disease like ASCVD, prevention is far from easy. Success depends on maintaining near-perfect adherence to pills or injections for decades. In the real world, thatโ€™s incredibly difficult and simply not practical for most people. The fact that ASCVD remains the leading cause of death globally, despite plenty of therapeutic choices, makes that painfully clear. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€. The vision behind STX-1150 is to provide year to decades of LDL-C lowering from a simple intervention, helping free patients from the constant burden of chronic treatment while more effectively reducing the risk of the worldโ€™s leading cause of death. The future is about empowering patients to take greater control of our own health destiny and preventing disease rather than waiting to treat it after catastrophe occurs. ๐—œ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด-๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ. Extremely proud of the entire Scribe team for advancing this vision. Excited for what comes next.
Announcing our first clinical trial. Scribe has secured regulatory clearance from Australiaโ€™s @TGAgovau to initiate a first-in-human clinical study of STX-1150 for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a major driver of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Details๐Ÿงต
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Letโ€™s go @scribetx!
๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น-๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ซ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ, a novel ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฐ epigenetic CRISPR therapy designed to deliver ultra-durable lowering of โ€œbad cholesterol,โ€ from a single dose, all without permanently altering the genome. This program is built on years of intentional and iterative engineering focused on improving the safety, specificity, potency, and durability of CRISPR medicines. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜†๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ณ. As someone at high risk of ASCVD, like roughly one-third of adults in the U.S., Iโ€™ve spent a lot of time thinking about the burden patients carry. For a chronic disease like ASCVD, prevention is far from easy. Success depends on maintaining near-perfect adherence to pills or injections for decades. In the real world, thatโ€™s incredibly difficult and simply not practical for most people. The fact that ASCVD remains the leading cause of death globally, despite plenty of therapeutic choices, makes that painfully clear. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€. The vision behind STX-1150 is to provide year to decades of LDL-C lowering from a simple intervention, helping free patients from the constant burden of chronic treatment while more effectively reducing the risk of the worldโ€™s leading cause of death. The future is about empowering patients to take greater control of our own health destiny and preventing disease rather than waiting to treat it after catastrophe occurs. ๐—œ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด-๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ. Extremely proud of the entire Scribe team for advancing this vision. Excited for what comes next.
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Latest preclinical data from ASGCT 2026 suggest the company is pushing gene editing toward safer, longer-lasting preventive medicine. vist.ly/55ec2 #longevity #geneediting #preventivemedicine #crispr #geroscience @scribetx
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Nearly 20ย years ago, researchers discovered something fascinating: some people are naturally protected from heart attacks because one of their PCSK9ย genes is turned off, leading to low cholesterol from birth. That observation sparked a simple but ambitious question: can we give that same protection to others? Results from the Heart-2 Phase 1 trial released today show early clinical evidence that could openย the door to new possibilities. These are results in 35 people and we have a lot left to learn. But, the resultsย could potentially mean an entirelyย different wayย of treating high cholesterol โ€” one infusion, lifelongย cholesterolย lowering. See the thinking behind this approach: lilly.com/news/stories/the-gโ€ฆ
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Epidemics has arrived to reduce LDL permanently but reversibly Brilliant presentation by Ben Oakes @ProfKausikRay @ProfSNicholls @BenjaminLOakes @scribetx @EASCongress @society_eas
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
#EASCongress2026 has kicked off! A late-breaking oral presentation from our CEO @BenjaminLOakes will showcase preclinical data for STX-1150, our epigenetic silencing therapy thatโ€™s designed for durable LDL-C reduction & now in the clinic. Thanks to @EASCongress for featuring it!
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น-๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ซ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ, a novel ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฐ epigenetic CRISPR therapy designed to deliver ultra-durable lowering of โ€œbad cholesterol,โ€ from a single dose, all without permanently altering the genome. This program is built on years of intentional and iterative engineering focused on improving the safety, specificity, potency, and durability of CRISPR medicines. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜†๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ณ. As someone at high risk of ASCVD, like roughly one-third of adults in the U.S., Iโ€™ve spent a lot of time thinking about the burden patients carry. For a chronic disease like ASCVD, prevention is far from easy. Success depends on maintaining near-perfect adherence to pills or injections for decades. In the real world, thatโ€™s incredibly difficult and simply not practical for most people. The fact that ASCVD remains the leading cause of death globally, despite plenty of therapeutic choices, makes that painfully clear. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€. The vision behind STX-1150 is to provide year to decades of LDL-C lowering from a simple intervention, helping free patients from the constant burden of chronic treatment while more effectively reducing the risk of the worldโ€™s leading cause of death. The future is about empowering patients to take greater control of our own health destiny and preventing disease rather than waiting to treat it after catastrophe occurs. ๐—œ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด-๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ. Extremely proud of the entire Scribe team for advancing this vision. Excited for what comes next.
Announcing our first clinical trial. Scribe has secured regulatory clearance from Australiaโ€™s @TGAgovau to initiate a first-in-human clinical study of STX-1150 for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a major driver of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Details๐Ÿงต
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
In @theheraldsun, Dr. Stephen Nicholls of @MonashVHI, Victorian Heart Hospital, and the PI leading Scribe's clinical trial shares his perspective on our epigenetic silencing drug STX-1150 and the need for improved therapies for cardiovascular disease. Links in thread โฌ‡๏ธ
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Replying to @scribetx
STX-1150 is designed to epigenetically silence PCSK9 in the liver and deliver sustained LDL-C reduction after a single dose without permanently altering DNA, with the goal of enabling early and durable ASCVD risk reduction in patients. Link to our full announcement below โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
We're pleased to announce: ๐Ÿ“ฃ A first-in-human clinical trial for STX-1150, our lead cardiometabolic asset targeting PCSK9 for durable LDL-C reduction ๐Ÿ“„ A newly released preprint detailing the engineering of our #CRISPR epigenetic silencing technology that underlies STX-1150
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Five years ago we sketched out the designs for our first epigenome editors. Proud to see those sketches move into the clinic. You can read more about the technology underpinning our epi-editors in this preprint we recently presented at ASGCT: biorxiv.org/content/10.64898โ€ฆ
Announcing our first clinical trial. Scribe has secured regulatory clearance from Australiaโ€™s @TGAgovau to initiate a first-in-human clinical study of STX-1150 for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a major driver of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Details๐Ÿงต
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Great article in @statnews by @damiangarde today covering schism in the biotech industry over the rise of Chinese biotech industry - notably no one will go on record but me๐Ÿ˜› The US can easily stop the Chinese biotech industry whenever it chooses as the US consumer is responsible for 70% (!!!) of the drug industry profits. Thus the US gets to set the rules. It is a mistake to outsource this industry -- very simply: the technology of genetic engineering is a matter of national security and democracies should lead it. We would not feel good if the US wasn't leading AI today and trust me we will feel even worse if we are behind in genetic engineering in the future as the tech improves. If you talk to people privately in biotech they will say it's a Prisoner's dilemma where they wish the rules would change. If the rules stay as they are then to stay competitive venture capitalists need to move their $ to China and pharma companies need to buy their drug assets from Chinese startups instead of from startups in Kendall Square or South San Francisco (the current US hubs for drug discovery). To fix this we should take two approaches: (1) Offensive - make US biotech industry more competitive! * Reform phase 1 clinical trails in US to be as fast as China and Australia -- this is in progress now at @US_FDA . @DrSynbio congressional testimony on this was very helpful. (link below). * Replace manual laboratories with autonomous robotic laboratories via programs like NSF Cloud Labs program and @SenToddYoung 's Cloud Lab Billย so US scientists can compete with lower-cost scientific labor in China. Yes, @ginkgo is the leader in making this tech. Efforts from @WHOSTP44. @dariogila, @mkratsios47, @sriramk with the WH Genesis Mission are a big help here. * Fix our approach to biotech patents -- it is very easy for Chinese startups to fast-follow US companies that have scientific breakthroughs by easily working around patents, @john_evans3 has led in thinking here. (2) Defensive - slowย the rise of the biotechnology industry in China * USG should add biotechnology to the COINS Act list of strategic technologies alongside AI, Quantum, Semiconductors, and Drones to prevent US investment from speeding Chinese development. * Other tools can be used in the future to easily penalize drug assets that originate from startups in China -- can do via regulatory pathway or via Medicare reimbursement. Genetic engineering is the most important technology to the future of humanity. Democracies should not give up on it! Let's fight for it!
May 18
China's ascent is forcing U.S. biotech companies and investors to pick a side: Is it an ally or an existential threat? trib.al/EtcOZGh
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
At #ASGCT2026, we presented preclinical data highlighting the latest advances across our engineered #CRISPR technologies for epigenetic silencing and gene editing. Highlights of our three oral presentations below and in thread ๐Ÿงต businesswire.com/news/home/2โ€ฆ
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
This will not end well for the US biopharma industry. The BMS/Hengrui deal announced yesterday includes co-commercialization which is the last piece after manufacturing and discovery that has not been present in Chinese drug cos. If we want to maintain our lead in US biotechnology we need to: 1. Drop cost and increase speed of phase 1 clinical trials in US. Good progress here recently from @US_FDA 2. Drop cost and increase speed of the lab work that drives product development in therapeutics. At @ginkgo we believe you do this via autonomous robotic labs, but I'll take anything that works -- right now discovery is 1/3 the cost in China as bench scientists there are 1/3 the labor cost. 3. Improve IP protections so its not too easy to fast-follow a biologic -- often the ultra-risky first clinical work on a new target is done in US and Chinese startups are fast-following and easily designing around patent limitations on protein sequences. 4. Leverage the fact that US consumers are paying for 70% of the profits in the biopharma industry to put in place the sort of trade restrictions we use to protect domestic automotive, defense, AI, and other strategic industries. Easy way to get started here is add biotech to the COINS Act list of strategic technologies alongside chips, AI, quantum, drones, etc. We need to do it now. Democracies should control genetic engineering - it's not more complicated than that. "Hengrui, which has the option to co-develop certain assets and participate in commercialization globally, gains access to some of the fruits of BMSโ€™ drug discovery engine, plus its partnersโ€™ global R&D, regulatory and commercial capabilities." fiercebiotech.com/biotech/bmโ€ฆ
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Two #ASGCT26 oral presentations tomorrow! ๐Ÿ”นEngineering CasX for therapeutic-grade in vivo editing with DeepXE, a predictive model for guide potency ๐Ÿ”นADDing a lock to epigenome editing: DNMT3A allostery enhances specificity and potency of CRISPR-CasX-based epigenetic repressors
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
Weโ€™re kicking off #ASGCT2026 today with a workshop by co-founder & VP of External Innovation @BStaahl. Details below & more to come at @ASGCTherapy later this week! ๐Ÿ”นEngineering CasX from clay to clinic: lessons in precision, potency, and translatability ๐Ÿ•’ May 11 at 3:07 pm ET
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
The path of least resistance to reducing the cost of medical care is to require all Non Profit Hospitals and providere to be required to post on their website a Real Time and downloadable General Ledger with all entries The same for all supply chain transactions In detail There is no reason why taxpayers shouldn't see every penny they are subsidizing None There are no competitive reasons we don't subsizie you to maximize revenues or profits We let you be NP to maximize outcomes and we deserve to see every penny and where it comes from and where it goes, and why Problem solved
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Benjamin L. Oakes retweeted
๐Ÿ“ŠAt #EASCongress2026, our late-breaker will report preclinical data for STX-1150, our PCSK9-targeting epigenetic silencing therapy for LDL-C lowering. ๐Ÿ”— For more details, read our press release: businesswire.com/news/home/2โ€ฆ
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