Prime Medicine Inc. has announced its new preclinical program for the treatment of α1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). The program is advancing through its final stages of lead optimization, with an IND and/or clinical trial application (CTA) filing anticipated around the middle of next year.

Korro Bio Inc. has announced a submission to the Australian Bellberry Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) for a phase I/II study of KRRO-110 for α-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).

While RNA-medicine developer Wave Life Sciences Ltd. brought in a clinical data win, it also got knocked back a step as a major collaborator will go its separate way. That didn’t stop Wave’s stock from standing strong on the day. The company’s ongoing phase Ib/IIa study of its A-to-I RNA editing oligonucleotide produced positive proof-of-mechanism data in treating alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a rare, genetic condition that can lead to lung and liver disease.

Airna Corp. Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., announced it has closed an oversubscribed $60 million financing round, bringing its total series A funding to $90 million.

Intellia Therapeutics Inc. has received clearance from the U.K. Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to initiate a phase I/II study of NTLA-3001 for the treatment of α1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD)-associated lung disease.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is a recessive genetic disorder caused by single nucleotide variants (SNV) in the SERPINA1 gene encoding for alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), with the most common mutation being the E342K mutation (Z allele) that introduces an amino acid change from glutamic acid (E) coding for M-AAT to a lysine (K) coding for Z-AAT.

α1-Antitrypsin deficiency is a hereditary disorder that affects the liver in children and adults, as well as the lungs in adults. The disease is mostly caused by the Z allele mutation in the SERPINA1 gene, where a glutamic acid amino acid is substituted by lysine (E342K) leading to protein misfolding and aggregation.

Circio Holding ASA has established technical in vivo proof of concept for its proprietary Circvec circular RNA platform by demonstrating statistically significant improvement in durability over mRNA-based expression.

Beam Therapeutics Inc. has received clearance of its clinical trial authorization (CTA) application by the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for BEAM-302, an in vivo base editor, as a potential treatment for patients with α1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).