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CRISPR Collaboration Agreement
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Collaboration Agreement [Abstract]  
CRISPR Collaboration Agreement

8. CRISPR Collaboration Agreement

 

On May 5, 2021, the Company entered into a research collaboration agreement (as amended, the "CRISPR Agreement") with CRISPR Therapeutics AG ("CRISPR") to co-develop and co-commercialize an allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR NK product candidate targeting the CD70 tumor antigen ("NKX070") and an allogeneic, off-the-shelf product candidate that comprises both engineered NK cells and engineered T cells ("NK+T"). The Company and CRISPR have entered into a number of amendments to the CRISPR Agreement to, among other things, revise the transfer of materials, nomination provisions, permit Nkarta's advancement of CRISPR-licensed product candidates targeting a specified tumor antigen (the "Specified TA"), and incorporate associated development and regulatory approval milestones and sales based royalties. In addition, the Company has received licenses from CRISPR for five CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing targets that can be engineered into an unlimited number of its own NK cell products. CRISPR also has an option to co-develop and co-commercialize a future CAR NK program.

 

Under the terms of the CRISPR Agreement, the Company and CRISPR share equally in all research and development costs and potential profits worldwide related to the NKX070 product candidate, NK+T product candidate, and the potential future CAR NK program. The related impact of the cost sharing activities are included in research and development expense on the condensed statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Expenses related to services performed by the Company are classified as research and development expenses. Payments received from CRISPR for partial reimbursement of expenses are recorded as a reduction of research and development expenses. Reduction of research and development expense resulting from partial reimbursement from CRISPR was immaterial for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024. The Company has deprioritized further development of NKX070 and NK+T.

 

For each non-collaboration product candidate incorporating a genome editing target licensed from CRISPR (a "CRISPR-Licensed Product Candidate"), other than those targeting the Specified TA, the Company would retain worldwide rights and may be required to make potential future payments based on the achievement of development and regulatory approval milestones totaling less than mid-twenty million dollars, as well as tiered royalties up to the mid-single digits on net product sales of such product candidate. For each CRISPR-Licensed Product Candidate targeting the Specified TA, the Company would retain worldwide rights and may be required to make potential future payments based on the achievement of development and regulatory approval milestones totaling less than high-forty million dollars, as well as tiered royalties up to the mid-single digits on net product sales of such product candidate. As of June 30, 2025, the Company has not paid any amounts nor are any amounts owed by the Company under the CRISPR Agreement, and no milestones have been achieved or are probable.